U.S. Deports Multiple Venezuelan Migrants to Guantanamo, While Kin Vouch for Their Innocence
Title: The Sordid Saga of 2025: Guantánamo Bay's Human Rights Scandal and Migrant Detention Crisis
February 15, 2025 (our website) - In a heated twist of events, the United States government has shipped more than 100 Venezuelans to Guantánamo Bay, a notorious naval base with a bleak record of human rights violations in Cuba.
Pieces of the puzzle trickle in, suggesting that this move is part of the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on immigration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem boldly declares that these detainees are "the worst of the worst," yet she fails to disclose their identities or the allegations against them.
Yet, reports hint at a different story. Government documents reviewed by CBS News reveal that apart from the claimed high-risk detainees, low-risk migrants are also being held at the base. At last count, there are 126 captives, according to a tally made over eight days by daily military transports.
Noem alleges that these men are pedophiles, drug traffickers, or violent gang members, but she presents no concrete evidence. The White House, in a targeted move, designates Tren de Aragua, a notorious criminal outfit from Venezuela, as a foreign terrorist organization, fanning the flames of suspicion against all Venezuelan migrants.
Critics argue that this discourse serves to cast a blanket of criminality over migrants while the Biden administration had previously agreed to a $163.4 million contract in 2024 to expand the Guantánamo facility for detentions.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration, demanding access to legal counsel for the detainees and the right to challenge their detentions. The ACLU's lead attorney, Lee Gelernt, points out that the practice of sending people from US territory to an overseas camp is unprecedented.
The base in Guantánamo has served as a makeshift prison since the early 1990s, mainly housing people from the Caribbean caught at sea. However, reports by Drop Site News have unearthed the dark truth of human rights abuses, including torture, at the base. Cases of violation of the Geneva Conventions, indefinite detentions, and unfair proceedings still linger from Washington's "War on Terror." Human rights organizations have long denounced the conditions at the base.
Two of the Venezuelans now held in Camp 6 reportedly told their families that they were imprisoned because of their tattoos or due to being profiled as gang members. It is crucial to note that none of these individuals have a proven criminal record.
In late January, the administration ordered the Defense and Homeland Security Departments to prepare conditions in Guantánamo to host 30,000 high-priority criminal aliens. The Migrant Operations Center, which is not designed to hold such a large number, stands in stark contrast to these plans.
While the Nicolás Maduro government has remained relatively quiet on the matter, the Venezuelan government has expressed concern over the situation and the need for Venezuelan citizens to return to their homeland in "dignified" conditions.
Edited and with additional reporting by José Luis Granados Ceja from Mexico City, Mexico.
Enrichment Insights:
- Guantánamo Bay's Record of Human Rights Violations: Guantánamo Bay has a sordid history of harmful practices, stemming from indefinite detentions, cruel conditions, and several allegations of abuse and torture.
- Criticism and Protests Regarding Detentions: Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has spoken out against the economic, environmental, and human rights abuses at the base, calling for its closure. Protests have also been a common response to the detentions and conditions at the base.
- Inhumane Conditions for Migrant Detainees: Reports of inhumane conditions for migrant detainees include overcrowding, rat-infested areas, overflowing sewage, and degrading treatment. Detainees have also reported being subjected to transport with blacked-out goggles and monitored legal calls.
- Expansion of Guantánamo Facility for Detentions: In 2024, the Biden administration signed a contract to expand the Guantánamo facility to increase its capacity for detentions, signaling a continued focus on detaining individuals, including migrants.
- Profiles of Migrants as Gang Members: Some detainees have reported being profiled as gang members due to their tattoos, indicating a disturbing trend of racial or cultural discrimination within the detention system.
- Amidst the growing controversy, human rights organizations are criticizing the Trump administration for shipping over 100 Venezuelans to Guantánamo Bay in 2025, citing the naval base's notorious history of human rights violations as a concern.
- Despite Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's claims that these detainees are the "worst of the worst," government documents reviewed by CBS News hint at the presence of low-risk migrants among the captives, numbering 126, according to a military tally.
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has expressed alarm over the detention of these Venezuelan migrants at Guantánamo Bay, filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration in 2025 to demand access to legal counsel for the detainees and the right to challenge their detentions, asserting that the practice of sending people from US territory to an overseas camp is unprecedented.
