CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Nearly 200 Venezuelan immigrants to the U.S. were returned to their home country after being detained at Guantanamo Bay, in a flurry of flights that forged an unprecedented pathway for U.S. deportations.

The U.S. government and a Venezuelan state airline flew 177 Venezuelan migrants from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras and on to Venezuela on Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security said.

Many of the migrants were being kept in a detention facility that has historically held suspected terrorists. They were flown back to Venezuela Thursday after a stop in Honduras.