Court blocks Trump administration from sending three migrants to Guantánamo

A federal court on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from sending three migrants to the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales temporarily halted the transfer of three migrants from Venezuela, saying in a filing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was holding them in New Mexico.

The three Venezuelan migrants began challenging their detention before the presidential election. They raised the Guantánamo transfer over the weekend, in light of the Trump administration beginning to transfer Venezuelans "depicting similar characteristics."

The judge in the case, who was appointed by former President Obama, noted that his decision "is limited in scope to these three Petitioners."

Late last month, President Trump signed a memo to prepare a facility at Guantánamo Bay for the use of housing deported migrants. The president had previously teased his intention to do so amid a signing ceremony for a bill related to immigration.

“We have 30,000 beds in Guantánamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” Trump said at an event to sign into law the Laken Riley Act.

“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send them out to Guantánamo,” the president continued. “This will double our capacity immediately. And tough, it’s a tough place to get out of.”

In a Monday press release, a Center for Constitutional Rights attorney said “the Trump administration is invoking the specter of Guantánamo, known around the world as a shameful symbol of torture and lawlessness, to terrorize our clients ... and others like them.”

“Our clients refuse to be used as pawns in this twisted game of punishment theater," senior staff attorney Jessica Vosburgh said.

The Center for Constitutional Rights represented the migrants.

The Hill has reached out to ICE, the White House, and the departments of Justice and Homeland Security for comment.

Zach Schonfeld contributed reporting.