Venezuelan prisoners at the Bluebonnet Immigrant Detention Center in the city of Anson, Texas, signaled “SOS” as a request for relief to the outside world on Monday (28).
The 31 prisoners formed the letters in the courtyard of the installation and a Reuters drone flying nearby recorded the moment.
Ten days earlier, dozens of Venezuelan detainees in the center received notifications from immigration authorities claiming that they were members of the Venezuelan gang ‘Tren de Aragua’, and were subject to deportation under a war law, according to documents shown to Reuters, recorded video cars and legal proceedings.
The families of seven detainees interviewed by Reuters said they were not gang members and refused to sign the document.
However, hours later, on Friday (18), they boarded a bus to Abilene Regional Airport, according to the American Union for civil and family freedoms. The action also happened before the bus was returned to the Detention Center.
That night the Supreme Court temporarily blocked its deportations. The internal security department declined to comment on the interruption.
The decision was a relief to the group of Venezuelans detained in Bluebonnet prison, who are still in danger of being sent to Cecot, the notorious mega maximum security prison in El Salvador, where the Trump government sent at least 137 Venezuelans under the 1798 foreign enemy law.
If the Supreme Court suspends the lock, they can still be sent to CECOT.
More about the Bluebonnet Center and the photographed detainees
Bluebonnet installation, located 322 km west of Dallas, is administered by Management and Training Corporation (MTC), under a contract with the Department of Immigration and Customs (ICE).
Named in honor of the Texas State Flower, the unit maintained an average of 846 detainees per day in the 2025 fiscal year, according to Ice detention data.
With access to Ice’s Bluebonnet facilities, Reuters flying over the center with a small plane last week, as well as a drone nearby to collect aerial images of detainees. Some of them wore red overalls, which identified them as high risk.
Diover Millan, 24, was photographed while walking with four other men in the courtyard of the detention center. Another Venezuelan, 19 -year -old Jeferson Escalona, was photographed playing football. Reuters identified three others showing their photos to family members.
Millan was transferred to Bluebonnet in mid -April from the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where he was detained since he was arrested by immigration agents in the Atlanta suburbs on March 12, according to a high employee of the internal security department.
Reuters was unable to find Criminal Background of Millan, who worked in construction. The internal security department official (DHS) said Millan was a “documented” member of the Aragua Tren, but provided no evidence.
Already Escalona, during a telephone interview from Bluebonnet, said she had no bonds with the Aragua Tren or any other gang. He said he was a police officer in Venezuela before he was detained.
During the moment, the US authorities confiscated their cell phone, and he suspects that they saw photos of him by gestures with their hands that, he said, were common in Venezuela.
“They are making false accusations against me,” he said. “I don’t belong to any gang.”
Escalona said she asked to voluntarily return to Venezuela, but had her request denied.
“I fear for my life here,” he added. “I want to go to Venezuela.”
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have come to the United States in recent years, fleeing the economic collapse and what critics call the authoritarian repression of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Under the government of former President Joe Biden, many have received temporary humanitarian protections that the Trump government is currently trying to revoke.
This content was originally published on video: Venezuelan prisoners make a “SOS” signal in the US detention center on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
