Trump clears out Guantanamo Bay, flies immigrant detainees back to Venezuela

Immigration and Customs Enforcement flew 177 of the 178 migrant detainees on several flights that departed Guantanamo Bay for Honduras early Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Once in Honduras, Venezuelan planes bound for Caracas took over the second leg of the repatriation flights, preventing planes from the United States from flying into Venezuela.

The detainees are illegal immigrants, most of whom had serious criminal histories, gang affiliations, or had been ordered to be removed from the U.S. by a federal immigration judge.

The sudden move to fly migrants at Guantanamo Bay back to Venezuela came after years of trouble in U.S. relations with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

However, it was at Maduro’s request that Venezuelans “who were unjustly taken” to Guantanamo Bay be instead returned to Venezuela rather than languish at the naval base.

The one detainee who was not flown back to Caracas was sent to a U.S. immigration detention facility stateside.

The flights mean that the naval base has been cleared out for the time being, according to an NBC News report. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to a request for comment.

The 178 Venezuelans detained in Guantanamo Bay arrived on the island earlier this month after President Donald Trump unleashed a mass deportation operation nationwide that has netted more than 11,000 arrests since then.

Although most countries will accept back citizens deported from the U.S., Venezuela refused until recent deliberations.

A federal court filing Thursday revealed details about the deportation flights and how they came to be.

In a court filing from Justice Department attorneys, all detainees at Guantanamo Bay as of Wednesday were immigrants who had illegally entered the country, gone through the legal process, and been ordered removed from the U.S. but had not self-deported or surrendered to ICE for deportation.

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At present, Guantanamo Bay can hold 2,500 people at its migrant detention site, which is separate from its high-security buildings where terrorists are detained.

The Trump administration has vowed to prioritize dangerous criminal immigrants in the country for arrest, as well as the 1.4 million illegal immigrants where a judge has ordered their removal but they have not departed the country.