(Reuters) – The U.S. government flew 177 Venezuelan migrants from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras on Thursday, from where they are set to be transferred on to Venezuela, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a post on X.
Earlier on Thursday, the Honduran government said some 170 Venezuelan migrants were set to arrive in the Central American nation from the United States, before being transported “immediately” back to Venezuela.
Lawyers representing at least half a dozen of the deportees said that they learned about the deportations on Thursday afternoon.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security Department spokesperson confirmed that 177 migrants were deported from the Guantanamo Bay detention site on Thursday. The deportees included 126 people with criminal charges or convictions, the spokesperson said, 80 of whom were allegedly affiliated with Tren de Aragua. The spokesperson said 51 had no criminal record.
The move comes after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit last week seeking access to dozens of migrants flown to a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying they were being denied the right to an attorney.
(Reporting by Joan Suazo, Sarah Kinosian and Ted Hesson; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer)
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