(The Center Square) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested the men they believe to be responsible for a mass shooting at a December Chicago house party – members of the foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua.
The first major arrests were made in January and February in Chicago and Raleigh, N.C. Over the last few weeks, 16 TdA members and associates of the shooters were arrested in Chicago by ICE HSI Chicago on immigration charges, ICE announced Tuesday.
On Dec. 2, eight people were shot, three fatally, at a house party primarily attended by Venezuelan nationals in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. Chicago Police said they’d been called to the home multiple times before the shooting occurred but no arrests were made, ABC 7 News reported.
Authorities later came to believe that the shooting was perpetrated by TdA members.
One of the suspected shooters, Venezuelan national Ricardo Granadillo Padilla, 25, was arrested on Feb. 8 in Raleigh, N.C. ICE Homeland Security Investigations Chicago and Raleigh, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Raleigh, U.S Border Patrol Tactical Unit, the U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations made the arrest.
Granadillo Padilla is currently in federal custody. He was sentenced in March for illegal entry after illegally entering the U.S. in 2022 near El Paso, Texas.
In January, authorities seized multiple firearms, high-capacity magazines, narcotics, and fraudulent documents from his Chicago residence. They also seized additional evidence, including a pistol and ammunition during his arrest in Raleigh, ICE said.
Authorities also arrested another suspected shooter, Venezuelan national Edward Martinez Cermeno, 24, also in the country illegally. He was arrested in January by ICE HSI Chicago and Border Patrol agents working out of the CBP Schaumburg, Ill., office. He also illegally entered the U.S. in Texas, in this case, near Eagle Pass in 2023, according to ICE records.
After a federal detention hearing, a federal magistrate judge in Illinois released him into the community. Not soon after, ICE HSI Chicago agents re-arrested him on federal immigration charges for being illegally present in the U.S. He is currently in federal custody facing criminal charges for illegal entry.
Under the Biden administration, federal agents were instructed not to apprehend illegal foreign nationals solely based on illegal entry and implemented a “catch and release” policy, The Center Square reported.
Under the Trump administration, this policy ended and federal law is being enforced. U.S. attorneys are also prosecuting illegal entry and illegal reentry cases in accordance with federal law. The base sentence for illegal reentry is two years in federal prison. Those with felony convictions who were previously deported face up to 10 years in prison, and those convicted of aggravated felonies face up to 20 years in federal prison. Additionally, federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for those who commit a capital crime or kill a law enforcement officer, The Center Square reported.
Chicago has been an epicenter of increased crime after Venezuelans moved into the city. Under the Biden administration, more than 1 million Venezuelans illegally entered the country nationwide, in addition to hundreds of thousands released through parole programs and granted temporary protected status from deportation. The parole programs and TPS for Venezuelans have since been revoked by the Trump administration, The Center Square reported.
As illegal entries increased so also did TdA crime, reported in at least 22 states last year, The Center Square first reported.
Last year, a review of Chicago Police Department records indicated that dozens of TdA members had been arrested for violent crimes, according to an analysis by America First Legal. Local news reports highlighted TdA arrests for narcotics and weapons charges as well as creating a turf war on the south side of Chicago between Black gangs and TdA members, Fox 32 News reported.
In February, the Trump administration designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization. The president also invoked the Alien Enemies Act to fast-track deporting TdA members, which is being held up through litigation.
