HOUSTON, TX - Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott is taking action as the Biden-Harris administration struggles to secure the southern border.
On Monday, Abbott announced the state has declared the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) a “foreign terrorist organization,” Fox News Digital reports.
During a Monday press conference, Abbott said the Lone Star State is undertaking a comprehensive, statewide operation designed to “aggressively” target the Venezuelan gang that has been identified as taking over an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, and San Antonio, Texas. The goal is to disrupt the gang’s criminal operations and deny their foothold in the state.
“Today in Houston, I designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. Texas will aggressively target them to disrupt their criminal activities & deny their foothold in our state,” Abbott said in a post on X. “Texas is the wrong state for them to do business in.”
As part of the campaign, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will elevate TdA to a “Tier 1” gang and create a dedicated strike team that will identify and arrest gang members.
“The recent entry and expansion of the vicious Venezuelan gang,Tren de Aragua, is a dangerous and deadly problem facing our state and nation,” Abbott said. “Our top focus is the safety and security of all Texans.”
“Our goal is to defend Texas from the growing threat of the gang. We will not let them use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens. They have a target on their back, and we are going after them,” the governor continued.
Abbott was joined at the press conference by DPS Director Steve McCraw, Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, and National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera.
“Tren de Aragua gangsters are like cockroaches,” McCraw said. “They multiply quickly; small intrusions into communities become infestations if not aggressively pursued. These Venezuelan thugs are highly combative, violent, and certainly adaptable.
“They’re always involved in situations that first start with human smuggling. Then they are involved in the extortion, kidnappings, rape, assaults, and sex trafficking of migrants,” McCraw continued. “Governor Abbott has made it very clear: We will not allow any of these gangsters to gain a foothold in Texas."
In 2023, Abbott signed SB 1900, that defines transnational drug cartels and criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations in the State of Texas while increasing penalties for the distribution of illegal drugs and the operation of stash houses.
As noted above, the gang has caused significant issues in Colorado.
Four members of the gang arrested in Aurora are confirmed illegal aliens, per a previous statement from ICE to Fox News Digital. The four, ranging in age from 19 through 24, all entered the country illegally via Texas in 2022 and 2023 under the Biden-Harris open borders policy. Two of them have had an ICE detainer placed on them.
The four were arrested in connection with a shooting near the Nome Street Apartments in Aurora, identified as one of the apartment buildings in the city allegedly taken over by armed members of TdA.
The gang is based primarily in Venezuela and boasts an estimated 5,000 members between there and the United States.
The House Committee on Homeland Security estimates over 7.8 million encounters have taken place with illegal aliens at the southwest border, while some estimates put that total much higher. That does not include so-called “gotaways” that ICE did not encounter.
Since Biden took office in 2021, there have been a number of high-profile cases where innocent people have been killed by illegal aliens, including college student Laken Riley in Georgia, Rachel Morin, a mother of five in Maryland, and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Abbott’s home state of Texas among many others.
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