Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem welcomed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the department for sending migrants to Guantánamo Bay.
“Suck it,” Noem wrote Thursday night in a post on the social platform X. She attached a copy of the court filing confirming the 10 migrants who brought the lawsuit have dismissed it.
The suit, which was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, was filed in early March, contesting the Trump administration’s intention of transferring 10 migrants to the U.S. detention center in Cuba, amid President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Never before has the federal government moved noncitizens apprehended and detained in the United States on civil immigration charges to Guantánamo. Nor is there any legitimate reason to do so now,” the plaintiffs said in a March 1 court filing.
“The government has ample detention capacity inside the United States, which is far less costly and poses none of the logistical hurdles attendant to detaining people on Guantánamo,” the document reads.
The DHS has accused Maiker Espinoza Escalona, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, of being a part of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. His family has denied the claims.
Espinoza Escalona was deported to El Salvador in late March. His partner, Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte, who was also accused of being a member of TdA, was sent to Venezuela. Both entered the U.S. with authorization, and a judge had already issued final removal orders.
The pair share a child, Maikelys Antonella Espinoza, who was initially in U.S. custody, but was returned to Venezuela earlier this month.
“The child’s mother, Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte, oversees recruitment of young women for drug smuggling and prostitution for Tren de Aragua,” the DHS previously said. “For the child’s safety, she was not removed with the mother.”
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