Feb 10, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Court blocks Trump admin from sending Venezuelan immigrants to Guantánamo

Rebecca Falconer

A group of peace activists gathered in at New York Public Library on Jan. 11 protest the Guantanamo Bay detention camp built on January 11, 2002 by Bush administraion after September 11 attack. — Protesters in front of the New York Public Library in New York City on Jan. 11 mark the 23rd anniversary of the Bush administration opening the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Photo: Selçuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

A federal court temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Sunday from sending three Venezuelan men from immigration detention in New Mexico to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

The big picture: President Trump announced in a memorandum late last month plans to house at Guantánamo Bay up to 30,000 immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally as part of his immigration crackdown.

Driving the news: The Center for Constitutional Rights asked a federal district court on Sunday "for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from sending them to Guantánamo," per a statement from the nonprofit legal group.

The men are currently being held at Otero County Processing Center, N.M. and "have a pending case before the court challenging their unlawfully prolonged detention," according to the statement that says they faced the risk of "imminent transfer to the island prison."

What's next: There will be a status conference to discuss the court's injunction on March 3, per the order.

What they're saying: Baher Azmy, the Center for Constitutional Rights' legal director and a lawyer for the men, on X called the ruling granting the temporary restraining order a "small but important win for clients otherwise bound to the latest iteration of the legal black hole."

Representatives for the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening.

Go deeper: Trump says he'll hold undocumented immigrants at Guantanamo Bay

Editor's note: This article has been updated with details from the temporary restraining order.

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Court blocks Trump admin from sending Venezuelan immigrants to Guantánamo

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