The Trump administration recently moved Venezuelan migrants from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, back to their home country. This sudden transfer emptied a detention center that had only opened this month.
Global X, a charter airline, operated two flights that took most of the migrants from the military base to an airfield in Honduras. From there, they were scheduled to fly to Venezuela.
According to Tricia McLaughlin from the Homeland Security Department, 177 migrants were sent to Venezuelan authorities, while one was taken back to an immigration facility in the U.S. An ICE official noted that 178 Venezuelans had been at the base earlier that day.
Questions remain about whether the administration planned to transfer more migrants to Guantánamo. An ICE official indicated that the agency intended to use the base as a temporary holding area for migrants awaiting repatriation.
The transfers raised concerns about the legality of moving people from ICE facilities in the U.S. to Guantánamo for continued detention. Immigration rights lawyers have sought court access to the migrants, and some groups may challenge this policy more broadly.
Professor Harold Hongju Koh from Yale Law School commented that these actions could be a strategy to avoid litigation. He said, “Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” highlighting the complexities of the legal situation surrounding the migrants.
Source link
United States Politics and Government,Military Bases and Installations,United States Defense and Military Forces,Homeland Security Department,Obama, Barack,Koh, Harold Hongju,Cuba,Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Cuba)
