U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest of 68 members of the transnational criminal gang Tren de Aragua, which President Donald Trump has designated as a terrorist organization.
According to a Friday statement, authorities arrested dozens of the Venezuelan street gang members in less than one week. Tren de Aragua has been linked to a range of illegal activities, such as human trafficking, kidnapping, drug trafficking and other crimes.
“The Trump Administration and the Department of Homeland Security are committed to arresting and removing criminals from our communities,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
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“Tren De Aragua is a terrorist organization whose members are rapists, drug traffickers, and murderers,” the spokesperson continued. “We will continue to make sure these dirtbags are removed from America’s streets and face justice.”
In less than 100 days, the Trump administration has arrested 394 members of Tren de Aragua, according to Friday’s release. Trump’s designation of Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization has “allowed a whole of government approach to dismantle this criminal terrorist gang,” the department stressed.
At the start of his second presidency, Trump signed multiple executive orders, which included the designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations due to “the unacceptable national security risk” to the U.S., among other reasons.
On March 15, Trump labeled Tren de Aragua an invading force, invoking the Alien Enemies Act to justify deportations. The act is a wartime authority that allows the president to detain or deport citizens of an enemy nation.
“I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,” the proclamation states. “TdA is undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.”
Venezuelan citizens 14 years or older who are members of Tren de Aragua and are not naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable for apprehension or removal as Alien Enemies. In addition, Trump declared all members of Tren de Aragua “a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States.”
The Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and criminal gangs like Tren de Aragua have led to debates about the government’s enforcement policies.
In a Monday opinion, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed a ruling that blocked the Trump administration from using wartime powers to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.
The judge wrote that each plaintiff “vehemently denies” the administration’s claims that they’re part of the Tren de Aragua gang. According to Boasberg, the plaintiffs are “entitled to individualized hearings” to determine if the Alien Enemies Act applies to their case.
“Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge,” the judge said.
The Trump administration has been involved in a legal battle this month after it flew Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador following a judge’s order to turn around. The administration has claimed that two of the deportation flights had already taken off before the order came down.
Tom Homan, who serves as the Trump administration’s border czar, said during a Sunday interview with ABC’s “This Week” that all of the individuals sent to El Salvador were gang members, and that most were part of Tren de Aragua. Homan claimed that the administration had removed 240 terrorists from the United States.
The family members of some of the deported individuals have denied that their relatives have any gang affiliations, as ABC News reports.
During the Sunday interview, Homan promised the administration would not defy court orders. The border czar also stated that the administration still has Title 8 authority to remove illegal aliens and that he “doesn’t care what [Judge Boasberg] thinks as far as this case.”
“I understand this case is in litigation through the Alien Enemies Act and we’ll abide by the court order as litigated,” Homan said. “But my point was, despite what he thinks, we’re going to keep targeting the worst of the worst, which we’ve been doing since day one, and deporting them from the United States through the various laws on the book.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
