Immigration
FBI warns Venezuelan, other foreign gangs ‘exploiting migratory surge’ at U.S. border
Venezuelan officials warn that the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang escaped from prison last year and could be hiding in the United States. The Venezuelan gang is exploiting the migratory surge at the United States border, and the FBI warns it is likely making alliances with the violent Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).
According to veteran FBI agent John Morales, a special agent in charge of the El Paso division in Texas, amidst the growing violence in the United States, MS-13 and other dangerous gangs could form a temporary alliance.
“Although these gangs normally do not mix, it will always be a concern as the [Tren de Aragua] band grows stronger and establishes a foothold,” Morales explained. “At this moment, we are working with our local law enforcement partners and sharing intelligence to stop the growth of the Tren de Aragua.”
Members of these two criminal groups have been detected in U.S. cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Chicago, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Immigration officials say that criminals are illegally remaining in the U.S. after they are released from immigration detention centers, committing violent crimes, including murders.
Between October 2022 and September 2023, Border Patrol agents detained 41 members of the Tren de Aragua along the southern border, and now FBI agents are asking Venezuelan migrants to report gang members in exchange for witness protection and temporary visas.
Immigration
Ex-ICE Director Says Trump Deportation Policies Could End Migrant Gang ‘Lawlessness as Quickly as it Began’
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Ronald Vitiello has said president-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy plans could successfully bring down the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua (TdA).
Vitiello served as acting director of ICE from June 2018 to April 2019, and told Newsweek that under Trump’s proposed plans the gang could be “dismantled quickly.”
“In the case of Tren de Aragua, they can be dismantled quickly and definitively because their presence in the United States, although dangerous, has just begun,” he continued.
Newsweek reports that TdA is a transnational criminal organization formed in a Venezuelan prison, focuses on human trafficking and other abuses targeting vulnerable migrants.
“They are particularly vulnerable to removal and deportation, and so the United States could end their lawlessness as quickly as it began” said Vitiello who also previously served as the acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
TdA has been linked to a string of high-profile crimes, including the murders of nursing student Laken Riley, 22, and Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, as well as taking over a hotel in El Paso.
“We’ve seen deadly examples where illegals who have committed crimes and then went on to do terrible things, as in the case of Laken Reilly near Atlanta, who was killed by an individual from Venezuela who was here illegally and was arrested,” Vitiello said.
TdA is also known as the syndicate of which footage emerged of its armed gang members storming an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. The gang has been linked to a series of high-profile crimes, including murder, sexual assault, and sex trafficking in the U.S.
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