Texas Attempts to Rein in Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Gang

FAIR Take | September 2024

Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott took steps to contain the violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, by formally designating the gang as a foreign terrorist organization. Tren de Aragua started as a prison gang in Aragua, Venezuela. Now, it’s a transnational criminal organization that has invaded the U.S., poured across the border, and infiltrated communities across the country.

Last Thursday, Governor Abbott held a press briefing on his actions and outlined the steps he was taking to deal with the gang, also known as TdA. In addition to designating Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization (defined by state law), Abbott has directed the Department of Public Safety to launch a statewide operation to target the gang and disrupt their operations, calling for a “TdA Strike Team.” He also said that Texas will begin creating a database “from scratch” that will help determine if arrests are in connection with gang members. They will monitor TdA activity and build the database “by looking at common traits shared by TdA,” such as tattoos, crimes, and methods of operation.

By designating the gang as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, Texas can now prosecute individuals who engage in criminal activities with Tren de Aragua. The state can now use civil asset forfeiture to take property and use enhanced criminal penalties for their crimes, including soliciting membership in a gang or directing gang-related activities. The underlying Texas law, SB 1900, which was enacted in June 2023, also allows state law enforcement and prosecutors to “pursue higher penalties for criminal activity associated with a foreign terrorist organization” and “adds that among the existing offenses, intent to deliver a controlled substance or dangerous drug or operating a stash house can qualify as engaging in criminal activity.” Abbott says he will also use a law recently passed by the Texas legislature (SB 4) to impose a mandatory minimum of at least 10 years jail time for gang members who smuggle aliens into Texas.

Texas’ actions come on the heels of reports that more than 1,000 members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang have infiltrated the United States and have been given the “green light” to attack and open fire on law enforcement officers. Tren de Aragua, taking full advantage of the open borders and catch-and-release policies in place by the Biden-Harris administration, has been sending its gang members to the United States disguised as asylum seekers.

In designating Tren de Aragua as a Tier 1 gang and Foreign Terrorist Organization, Governor Abbott called the gang “the worst of the worst.” He highlighted that TdA is notorious for its brutal violence and murder, kidnapping, extortion and bribery, as well as trafficking of drugs, weapons and humans.

Tren de Aragua has indeed left a trail of destruction in many communities. During the press briefing, state officials highlighted how El Paso is “ground zero” for the dangerous gang. The gang took over a hotel in downtown El Paso, causing a judge to temporarily shut it down for allowing criminal activity to thrive. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said Tren de Aragua members “continue to support the Juárez-related gangs involved in smuggling of people across the border. And they combat with us. We deal with them daily in that regard.”

In June, a member of Tren de Aragua shot two New York Police Department officers at point blank as officers attempted to arrest him. According to CBS News, court documents say the suspect lived in a migrant shelter, and told detectives that guns are smuggled into shelters through food delivery packages to avoid metal detectors.

FAIR also recently highlighted the gang’s activities in Aurora, Colorado, when surveillance footage from an apartment complex showed purported members of the dangerous and deadly Venezuelan gang breaking down doors while brandishing assault rifles.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., Tren de Aragua was designated as a transnational criminal organization at the federal level by the Department of Treasury in July of this year. The Department of Treasury said “Tren de Aragua leverages its transnational networks to traffic people, especially migrant women and girls, across borders for sex trafficking and debt bondage. When victims seek to escape this exploitation, Tren de Aragua members often kill them and publicize their deaths as a threat to others.”

Nonetheless, the Biden-Harris open-borders policies remain in effect, and hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens continue to be released on parole. Just last month, more than 16,800 Venezuelan nationals attempted to cross our borders. In total, since the beginning of 2021, more than 872,000 illegal aliens from Venezuela have been encountered, and that does not include “gotaways.” The Department of Homeland Security also announced that, since creating its unlawful categorical parole programs, more than 117,000 Venezuelans have been granted parole and released into the United States through the fraud-ridden CHNV program.

For an in-depth look at migration trends from Venezuela, including the policies that lead to the surge of illegal aliens and the national security risks, read FAIR’s country brief here.