Following demands from Republicans who claim the immigrant group from Venezuela Tren de Aragua has crossed the southern border, the Biden administration has designated the group as a transnational criminal firm.
Tren de Aragua, a cross-border violence band that was cited in connection with terrible atrocities committed against Americans by illegal immigrants who crossed the border into the land under President Joe Biden’s leadership, was sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday.
The title comes three and a half years into a frontier problems that began when Biden became president as the White House made preparations for the November election’s election campaign focused on immigration. In that time, more than 9 million non-U. S. people have been encountered at the world’s borders — more than any two-term leader.
Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson stated in a statement that” the title of Tren de Aragua as a major transnational criminal organization reinforces the growing threat it poses to American societies. ” As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s attempts to target Transnational Criminal Organizations, we will install all equipment and authorities against organizations like Tren de Aragua that prey on vulnerable populations to create profit, participate in a range of criminal activities across borders, and misuse the U. S. financial system”.
Tren de Aragua is alleged to be as dangerous as MS-13, a Peruvian gang, and is secretly operating and gaining traction in local governments all over the nation.
The corporation-size legal organization capitalized on the border crisis to recruit members into the US and increase its appearance in cities all over the country where law enforcement and elected officials are deeply concerned about the kind of crime they are seeing, especially after one crime that has been in the spotlight.
The , Washington Examiner , reported , in May 2023 while visiting the border in El Paso, Texas, that Colombian crew individuals were living on the street city after being released into the area from the frontier, according to federal law enforcement officers.
Near 700, 000 Citizens have been encountered at the southern border since Biden took office in January 2021, compared to the less than 200 Residents who were encountered each month at the end of the Trump administration.
In March, Sen.  , Marco Rubio , (R-FL ), Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX ), and Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL ) led seven senators and 16 representatives in a letter to the White House that demanded the Biden administration immediately declare the South American gang a transnational criminal organization. The action was taken a few weeks after one of its people was detained on suspicion of the murder and kidnapping of Laken Riley, a Georgia medical student.
The 23 politicians wrote in the text that” Heinous acts committed by the Tren de Aragua, such as the murders of many children and the murders of retired police officer José Luis Sánchez Valera and medical student Laken Riley, had stop.” By naming the Tren de Aragua as a TCO, we will give a clear concept that our country’s reign of terror will not be tolerated and that we will have united in our fight against the plague of international organized crime.
Tren de Aragua was described by the lawmakers as an “invading legal troops from a prison in Venezuela.”
Illegal immigrants who have been detained at the southern border are not permitted to enter if they have a known group associations. Border Patrol agents monitor the number of unlawful immigrants who enter the country and are associated with the 45 criminals listed on its website. But, Tren de Aragua is not listed on the government site.
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The title will enable the Treasury Department to avert Tren de Aragua’s affiliates from using American economic networks, such as banks or cash transfer systems.
Transnational criminal organizations are defined by the White House National Security Council as organizations that use crooked and legitimate means of obtaining financial gain, as well as investment in legitimate businesses, to perpetrate violence or other violent acts that are likely to scare, or create real or inherent threats to do so.
