Trump 2nd term live updates: Dan Bongino named as deputy FBI director

The future looked bright for Luis Eduardo Perez Parra, Leonel Rivas Gonzalez and Abrahan Josue Barrios last week.

After being held in immigration custody for over a year and facing the possibility of transfer to Guantanamo Bay, the three men asked a federal court to intervene, warning they might have "disappeared into the legal black hole" of Guantanamo.

Last Sunday, a federal judge in New Mexico handed down a surprise ruling blocking President Donald Trump's administration from sending the men to Guantanamo -- the first successful legal challenge to the policy since it was enacted last month.

But their victory was short-lived.

The very next day, the men were placed on the first deportation flight back to Venezuela in over a year, according to their lawyer Jessica Vosburgh.

"It's hard to imagine that it didn't have something to do with them filing a habeas piece and then stepping forward to challenge these threatened Guantanamo transfers," Vosburgh told ABC News.

"The court's order only applied to transfers to Guantanamo, this is just a slap in the face to get deported the next day."

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous and Armando Garcia

Early this month, as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, the first flight carrying "high threat" migrants landed at Guantanamo Bay, home of the notorious U.S. prison camp that administration officials said would house the most violent "worst of the worst" migrants apprehended on American soil.

ABC News, however, has spoken with the families of two migrants who say they're being held there despite having no criminal record.

"He told us he was being targeted because of his tattoos ... he was accused of being part of [the Venezuelan gang] Tren de Aragua, but that is not true," said Barbara Simancas, the sister of Jose Rodriguez Simancas who is reportedly one of the migrants in Guantanamo. "His tattoos have nothing to do with that ... they are of his children's names."

ABC News also spoke with Jhoan Lee Bastidas, the father of Jhoan Lee Bastidas Paz, who is being held at Guantanamo Bay. He was charged with "improper entry" into the U.S. in November 2023 and pleaded guilty. Court records also indicate he has "no criminal history" besides that charge.

Lee Bastidas told ABC News he found out about his son's detention when his other son saw a photo on social media of Bastidas Paz on a military flight to Guantanamo.

"We're thinking the worst things because on social media, they say Guantanamo is the worst ... that it's where they house the terrorists," Lee Bastidas said. "I am tormented."

-ABC News' Laura Romero and James Hill

During President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s first joint interview since the election, Fox News host Sean Hannity asked if DOGE employees were getting paid for their work.

"Nobody at DOGE gets paid a penny, right?" Hannity asked.

"Some people actually are federal employees," Musk responded.

"It's fair to say the software engineers at DOGE could be earning millions of dollars a year, instead of earning a small fraction of that as federal employees," he added.

The Trump administration cut off funding to organizations that provide pro bono representation and other legal assistance to unaccompanied migrant children, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.

In an email sent by the Department of the Interior, the organizations that receive federal grants were told to stop "all activities" related to the work they do to support migrant youth facing deportation.

"The stop-work order shall remain in place until you are notified otherwise," said the memo.

For unaccompanied minors, having an attorney could be the determinative factor as to whether they get to stay in the U.S. or are forced to return to their home country.

ABC News previously reported that thousands of unaccompanied children are representing themselves in immigration court due to a shortage of attorneys. In 2023, only 56% of unaccompanied minors in immigration courts were represented by counsel, according to data from the Department of Justice.

-ABC News' Laura Romero