On Feb. 7, he and other Venezuelan men in ICE detention in El Paso were awakened and told they were going back to Venezuela, Purroy Roldan said. They were transported to Miami and put aboard a military plane – and realized they were actually going to Guantanamo.

U.S. immigration and military authorities say they have transferred exclusively Venezuelan immigrants who are subject to final deportation orders to the U.S. naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA that a C-130 military cargo plane carrying migrants left Fort Bliss in Texas and arrived at Guantanamo Bay on Sunday. A second defense official said all 17 migrants were assessed to be “high threat” and are being held at the base’s detention facility.