The first flight of the most violent illegal border crossers arrived at the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
It included 10 high-threat illegal foreign nationals who are confirmed members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.
They are being housed in vacant detention facilities and not near war on terror detainees being held there.
Late last month, as part of President Donald Trump’s border security directives, he ordered the secretaries of the departments of Homeland Security and Defense “to take all appropriate actions to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to full capacity to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to address attendant immigration enforcement needs.”
His executive order was issued “in order to halt the border invasion, dismantle criminal cartels, and restore national sovereignty.”
TdA members are known for committing extreme acts of violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking. Its members are linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide. Confirmed members arrests have been reported in at least 22 states, The Center Square first reported.
On his first day in office, Trump designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, declared an invasion and national emergency at the southern border, and directed the U.S. military to participate in border security efforts.
Most criminal aliens being deported are being transported directly to their countries of origin by the DOD on military aircraft, or “gray tails.” Using gray tails for deportation efforts is new, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
In some cases, where it may take longer to process the removal of high-threat criminal aliens, Guantanamo is being used to house them before the DOD returns them to their country of origin, which in this case is Venezuela.
“We want somewhere else to hold them safely in the interim – criminal illegals – Guantanamo Bay … is a perfect place,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth previously served at Guantanamo from 2004 to 2005.
“It’s folks who may be in transit to their home country or a safe, third harbor country, and it’s taking a little time to move with that processing and with the paperwork,” Hegseth said. “Better they be held at a safe location like Guantanamo Bay.”
Using Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is a “plan in movement,” part of a revised Unified Command Plan. It involves United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) to “seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities,” according to Trump’s order.
Trump tasked USNORTHCOM with continuously assessing all available options to repel mass unlawful entry “and impingement on our national sovereignty and security by foreign nations and transnational criminal organizations.”
“We’re ramping up for the possibility to expand mass deportations because President Trump is dead serious about getting illegal criminals out of our country,” Hegseth said. “And the DOD is not only willing to [but] is proud to partner with DHS to defend the sovereignty of our southern border and advance that mission.”
In addition to removing violent TdA members from the US, the Trump administration already negotiated with Venezuela to take back its citizens unlawfully in the US and release Americans being held in its prisons, The Center Square reported.
On Trump’s first day in office, he also rescinded Biden administration orders, including a parole program and temporary protective status for Venezuelans, which he and members of Congress argue were illegal. The Biden administration granted TPS to roughly 600,000 Venezuelans and released 117,320 Venezuelans through parole, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data from December, The Center Square reported.
Under the Biden administration of the more than 14 million illegal border crossers reported, more than 1 million were from Venezuela, The Center Square first reported.
