A federal court blocked the Trump administration from flying three Venezuelan illegal immigrants in New Mexico to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the first time a court has barred such transports.
The U.S. District Court in New Mexico approved a temporary restraining order to block the transfer of three Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees to Guantanamo on the basis that the defense’s lawyers argued they were falsely connected to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
“The mere uncertainty the government has created surrounding the availability of legal process and counsel access is sufficient to authorize the modest injunction,” Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales wrote in the ruling.
The three unnamed Venezuelan illegal immigrants at the center of the legal case are among hundreds to thousands who could be sent to Guantanamo rather than being deported to Venezuela.
The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem flew to Guantanamo last Friday to see the immigrant camps that the military had begun to set up. Roughly 50 immigrants have been flown to Guantanamo to date.
White House border czar Tom Homan said last Thursday that 11,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested nationwide since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.
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The White House has normalized relations with Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in the sense that he has agreed to take back Tren de Aragua gang members, as has El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.
For the time being, the United States has chosen to send the most dangerous illegal immigrants in its custody to the Cuban naval base. At least two planes have been dispatched to Guantanamo since last week, according to Noem.
I was just in Cuba and saw firsthand criminal aliens being unloaded off a flight at GITMO.
My message to criminal alien murderers, rapists, child predators and gangsters: do not come to this country or we will hunt you down, find you, and lock you up. pic.twitter.com/BokRSqp4kr
