\n<\/p>\n
Luis Alberto Castillo, a father of one from Venezuela, entered the United States on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump became president for a second term \u2014 swept into office on a promise to treat undocumented migrants with a heavy hand.<\/p>\n
By Feb. 4, Mr. Castillo was on a plane to a U.S. Navy base at Guant\u00e1namo Bay in Cuba, best known for a detention center that has long held terrorism suspects accused of launching the deadliest attack on American soil.<\/p>\n
That day, the Department of Homeland Security declared that those who had been transferred to the island represented \u201cthe worst of the worst<\/a>\u201d and were all members of a Venezuelan criminal group, the Tren de Aragua.<\/p>\n But in interview from her home in Colombia, Mr. Castillo\u2019s sister Yajaira Castillo said her brother was not a gang member to be feared, but rather an everyday Venezuelan who had fled his country because of its economic crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n She broke down repeatedly during the conversation, crying as she described her pain and confusion around her brother\u2019s situation.<\/p>\n \u201cMy brother is not a criminal,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is all discrimination and xenophobia, just because he\u2019s Venezuelan.\u201d<\/p>\n Given that Mr. Castillo had spent such little time in the United States, she questioned how the U.S. government could have determined that he was a member of the Tren de Aragua, or was worthy of such harsh treatment.<\/p>\n After he entered the United States, officials suspected Mr. Castillo of being a member of the gang because of his tattoos, according to two people familiar with his case who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.<\/p>\n He did not admit to being a part of the criminal group. Later, officials assessed his tattoos and interviewed him, and they found that he did not appear to have ties with the Tren de Aragua, the people said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In an email, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said that Mr. Castillo was in the United States illegally and had final deportation orders issued by a federal judge.<\/p>\n \u201cThis administration abides by the rule of law,\u201d said the spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin. \u201cDuring further assessment, intelligence officers could not definitively determine whether the individual is or is not a confirmed member of TDA,\u201d or Tren de Aragua. \u201cHe may very well be a member of this vicious gang. He may not be.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Ms. McLaughlin said that they had received confirmation that he was a member of the gang, but did not provide further evidence. <\/p>\n In the interview, Mr. Castillo\u2019s sister shared a screenshot that indicated that he had not tried to evade authorities when he entered the country. The image included details of an appointment her brother had secured to present himself at the border to claim asylum on Jan. 19 at 7 a.m.<\/p>\n The Biden administration had set up a system for migrants to make these claims and enter the United States legally through an app called CBP One. Mr. Trump ended the program on Jan. 21.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Over the last week, the United States government has sent more than 80 men to Guant\u00e1namo Bay as part of larger plan by the Trump administration to hold as many as 30,000 migrants at the Naval base. So far, all the detainees are believed to be Venezuelans. Some are being held in a prison building<\/a> on the base, while others are detained at the Migrant Operations Center, a dormitory-style<\/a> facility. (Mr. Castillo is being held at the migrant center, according to D.H.S.)<\/p>\n U.S. troops are building a tent camp at the site in an effort to vastly expand its capacity to hold detained migrants.<\/p>\n