The Trump administration executed a rapid repatriation of 177 Venezuelan migrants that it had previously detained at Guantánamo Bay, raising legal questions and concerns about immigration policies amidst ongoing lawsuits.**
**Trump Administration Makes Sudden Move to Repatriate Venezuelan Migrants from Guantánamo Bay**
**Trump Administration Makes Sudden Move to Repatriate Venezuelan Migrants from Guantánamo Bay**
**In an unexpected turn, the Trump administration has completed the transfer of Venezuelan migrants from Guantánamo Bay to Honduras.**
The Trump administration made headlines on February 20, 2025, as it abruptly relocated all Venezuelan migrants from the Guantánamo Bay military base, marking the end of a controversial detention operation initiated just weeks prior. Early Thursday morning, two Global X chartered aircraft transported the migrants to an airfield in Honduras, where they would board a Venezuelan flight back to their home country.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed that 177 migrants had been returned to Venezuelan authorities, with one individual moved to an immigration facility within the United States. This swift transfer raises questions regarding the legal authority under which the government operated in moving these individuals from ICE facilities to the military base for continued detention.
The operation has sparked significant scrutiny from immigrant rights advocates, who have been seeking greater access to the asylum seekers and planning to launch a broader legal challenge to the administration’s tactics. The controversy surrounding this event highlights ongoing debates about U.S. immigration policies and the fates of individuals seeking refuge in America.
Reporting assistance was provided by Eric Schmitt in Washington and Albert Sun in New York. Hamed Aleaziz focuses on the Department of Homeland Security and immigration matters, while Annie Correal covers events in the U.S. and Latin America for The Times. Carol Rosenberg has been investigating Guantánamo Bay since the initial detainees were relocated there in 2002, and Charlie Savage focuses on national security and legal implications related to these developments.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed that 177 migrants had been returned to Venezuelan authorities, with one individual moved to an immigration facility within the United States. This swift transfer raises questions regarding the legal authority under which the government operated in moving these individuals from ICE facilities to the military base for continued detention.
The operation has sparked significant scrutiny from immigrant rights advocates, who have been seeking greater access to the asylum seekers and planning to launch a broader legal challenge to the administration’s tactics. The controversy surrounding this event highlights ongoing debates about U.S. immigration policies and the fates of individuals seeking refuge in America.
Reporting assistance was provided by Eric Schmitt in Washington and Albert Sun in New York. Hamed Aleaziz focuses on the Department of Homeland Security and immigration matters, while Annie Correal covers events in the U.S. and Latin America for The Times. Carol Rosenberg has been investigating Guantánamo Bay since the initial detainees were relocated there in 2002, and Charlie Savage focuses on national security and legal implications related to these developments.
