(The Center Square) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents working with multiple federal, state and local law enforcement partners continue to arrest members of the violent Foreign Terrorist Organization and Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua, throughout Texas.
In El Paso, ICE agents arrested three Venezuelan nationals illegally in the country, including sex offenders and TdA members. One was convicted of sexual assault of a child last year and sentenced to just 10 years of probation; two TdA members who were released into the country through Biden administration policies were also recently arrested. They remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
ICE-San Antonio agents also recently arrested a Venezuelan national and TdA member wanted in Chile for narcotics and weapons trafficking. He illegally entered the U.S. at a port of entry in Calexico, Calif., last November and instead of being processed for removal was paroled into the U.S. through Biden administration policies. He was arrested in Austin and remains in ICE custody.
Also in Austin, ICE agents, working with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Texas Department of Public Safety, officers arrested a Venezuelan national and suspected TdA member during a routine daily enforcement action. After performing a records check, they discovered that he was previously convicted and sentenced for attempting to smuggle firearms out of the U.S. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
“The arrest of a suspected TdA gang member, previously convicted of firearms smuggling, marks a significant victory in our ongoing efforts to enhance public safety,” ICE Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee said.
In another operation, ICE HSI and law enforcement partners arrested a TdA member in San Antonio for assault with a deadly weapon who is also the suspected shooter in an attempted murder investigation in San Antonio. The Venezuelan national illegally in the U.S. remains in state custody.
As crime expanded in at least 22 states by confirmed TdA members, Texas law enforcement also expanded targeted operations to apprehend them. Gov. Greg Abbott last year designated TdA and cartel members as FTOs and also launched a statewide initiative to target TdA members, offering rewards of up to $5,000 for information leading to their identification and arrest, The Center Square reported.
Texas DPS also developed a database to track TdA members, characterizations, and arrests; Texas anti-gang centers also have ongoing criminal enterprise investigations against them.
After cracking down on an apartment complex overrun by TdA members, San Antonio’s police chief warned TdA members, “We are on to you and we’re coming for you. We know where you are and we’re coming for you.”
In Dallas, TdA members were targeted for their involvement in an aggravated kidnapping and murder investigation, also linked to an ATM theft ring spanning multiple states, The Center Square reported.
Not soon after he was sworn into office, President Donald Trump designated TdA members, Mexican cartels and other violent transnational criminal organizations as FTOs.
Last week, he invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelan TdA members from the country. He issued an executive order stating that they “unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States,” using warfare terminology first reported on by The Center Square.
Initially, Venezuelan nationals and TdA members who were arrested or convicted for a range of violent crimes, illegally in the U.S. and slated for deportation were transported to U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Hundreds were also deported at the expense of the Venezuelan government and transported to a high security prison in El Salvador in partnership with the Salvadoran government.
While Trump’s AEA Venezuelan deportation effort remains challenged in court, ICE continues to apprehend TdA and other violent criminals in the U.S. to process for removal.
TdA members are known for brutal violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking and are linked to hundreds of law enforcement investigations nationwide, The Center Square reported.
The Trump administration also began the process to terminate a parole program created by the Biden administration that contributed to a record more than one million Venezuelans illegally entering the U.S., The Center Square exclusively reported.
In Texas alone, law enforcement officials arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers during the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.
