A representative monitoring Tren de Aragua’s activities claims that the Colombian group Tren de Aragua, whose users have been linked to instances of whole house complexes being taken over in Colorado and Texas, poses a much greater threat to Americans than the Peruvian group MS-13.
Democrats and Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee debated whether the southern border’s illegal immigration issue, which has harmed the country since 2021, poses a serious threat to American security. However, one senator said Tren De Aragua was likewise “terrorizing” people inside the U. S.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX ), whose district includes 40 % of the southern border, said lawmakers and law enforcement should be in the spotlight of Tren de Aragua and criminal illegal immigrants.
” Over 10,000 known judicial creatures are being held in the United States at the moment,” said the chairman of ICE when I spoke with him. That’s in my vision where we need to begin, and then we go from it”, Gonzales said during Thursday’s hearing. Go after Cuban criminals, because they are enraging us. They might not be on a list of terrorists under the radar.
Over the past month, Gonzales has spoken out about Tren de Aragua in an open letter to the public about how violent the gang has become.
” I would say that TDA makes MS-13 look like Boy Scouts”, said Gonzales, a reference to the Peruvian crew that was a target of the Trump administration. The reason I say that is because each judicial business that comes often tries to outsmart the one before. … I see them growing in appendages in areas well beyond the borders — , larger towns, not only in Texas but throughout the nation, and this is the risk. We’re little then really talking about TDA as if, as if they’re related to MS-13. They’re worse. And they’re going to find a whole lot worse”.
This summer, Tren de Aragua was exposed after fiercely taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, which forced the owner to sell the house.
” As of now, the Aurora-Multi-Family Properties are in the full power of the Gangs”, stated a nearby police statement dated June 29 obtained by Daily Mail.
During a press conference earlier this year, Gov. More than 100 Tren de Aragua gang members were detained at the Gateway Hotel in downtown El Paso, according to Greg Abbott (R-TX ), on a number of charges, including human trafficking and drug trafficking. Piece of El Paso falls under Gonzales’s Congressional District.
The lodge was shut down last year, according to the El Paso County attorney, because there was considerable legal action, not a precise gang appearance.
Abbott made the announcement on Monday that the position had classified Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. A new attack group, made up of Texas Rangers, highway patrol officials, Texas Rangers, and aircraft flight teams, was authorized by the declaration to be formed by the Texas Department of Public Safety to target areas with Tren de Aragua-like presences.
I announced yesterday that Texas will launch a nationwide procedure to fight the Colombian gang Tren de Aragua. Through Texas Anti-Gang Centers, @TxDPS will work with national and regional colleagues to stop these criminals.
Our# 1 concern is keeping Texans healthy. photograph. twitter.com/LHH9lQaLt0
— Greg Abbott ( @GregAbbott_TX ) September 17, 2024
” Texas will use the authorities to block their procedures, use civil asset forfeiture to get their home, use increased criminal penalties to keep them in prison, behind bars for longer periods of time”, Abbott said at a press conference.
One of the greatest challenges in going after Tren de Aragua, Gonzales said, was identifying its members. In contrast to MS-13, Tren de Aragua members frequently do n’t have the same tattoos on their bodies, and the Venezuelan government does n’t share information with Interpol, an international crime agency that U.S. federal police can use to check migrants ‘ information at the border.
” One of the ways we fix this is we come together, federal, state, and local law enforcement, all pull their resources and go after these people”, said Gonzales.
Other members of the committee focused on individuals who were apprehended at the southern border under President Joe Biden on a known or suspected FBI terror watch list.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA ) claimed that the FBI’s terrorist watchlist included 382 illegal immigrants who had entered the country from Mexico since October 2021, compared to a small number of those who have been in the Trump administration.
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Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA ) argued that border crossing immigrants do not pose the greatest threat to Americans in terms of terrorism.
According to Correa,” the data indicates that most terrorist activity is carried out by Americans, not by immigrants.”  ,
