Judge halts transfer of three Venezuelan detainees in New Mexico after legal challenge.
A federal court on Sunday halted the Donald Trump administration’s attempt to transfer three Venezuelan immigrants, detained in New Mexico, to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
Earlier that day, the men’s lawyers argued in a legal filing that the detainees “fit the profile” of those the administration had targeted for transfer to Guantanamo.
The filing also stated that they were “Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang,” CNN reported.
The lawyers urged a US District Court in New Mexico to block the transfer, arguing that the “uncertainty” surrounding the detainees’ legal rights and access to lawyers warranted an injunction.
Chief US District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary order during a brief hearing.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the three men, was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.
The Tren de Aragua gang emerged over a decade ago in a prison in Venezuela’s Aragua state and has since expanded across Latin America and into the US.
In recent weeks, Trump ordered the construction of a detention camp at Guantanamo Bay to hold up to 30,000 “worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”
The White House has since begun flying undocumented immigrants — labeled as a “high threat” and “criminals” — to the detention center in Cuba as part of Trump’s mass deportation plan.
The Pentagon announced on Feb. 5 that the first 10 migrant detainees had arrived at a Guantanamo Bay detention facility following Trump’s directive to expand detention space for “high-priority criminal aliens.”
The Department of Defense said that these individuals are being housed in “vacant detention facilities” and emphasized that their detention is temporary.
According to CBS News, the facility is separate from Guantanamo’s military prison, which still holds terror suspects from the 9/11 attacks.
At least 14 advocacy groups, including the ACLU, National Immigration Law Center, and Center for Constitutional Rights, sent a letter to administration officials demanding details on the detained migrants, including their names, immigration status, detention criteria, legal basis for transfer, duration of detention, and future plans.
“The Constitution, and federal and international law prohibit the government from using Guantánamo as a legal black hole,” they wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.