Trump Plans to Use Military Sites Across the Country to Detain Undocumented Immigrants
New York Times1 day
Trump Admin. Flies 177 Migrants Held in Guantánamo Back to Venezuela
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Above: Venezuelan migrants deported from US Naval Station Guantánamo Bay walk down from the Venezuelan Conviasa Airlines plane as they arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela on Feb. 20, 2025. Image copyright: Pedro Mattey/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
A plane of Venezuela's Conviasa Airlines with 177 Venezuelan migrants deported from Guantánamo Bay arrived at Simón Bolívar International Airport, outside Caracas, on Thursday night.
They were flown from Guantánamo Bay in two charter passenger flights, with a stopover at the Soto Cano air base in Honduras, where the US Southern Command has long maintained a presence.
A spokesperson for the US Dept. of Homeland Security said that 126 deportees had criminal charges or convictions, including 80 allegedly affiliated with Tren de Aragua — one of the eight Latin American cartels that the US designated as foreign terrorist organizations on Thursday. Venezuela claims none of the deportees are criminals.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
It's no wonder that the Trump admin. has transferred Venezuelan migrants held in Guantánamo all of sudden just as human rights advocates filed a lawsuit demanding attorney access for them. Trump first said that they were the "worst of the worst," now his administration has revealed that nearly one-third of them had no criminal record.
Republican narrative
Pro-migrant advocates are desperate for the Trump admin. to expedite the repatriations of these illegal migrants, as they hoped to stall the deportations with legal challenges and further fuel the immigration crisis. There's still a long way to go as Biden welcomed hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants into the country, but these first steps are key to restoring order and boosting the US economy.
