Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that the state is taking an aggressive stand against the violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA) and declaring the group a "foreign terrorist organization."
During a press conference in Houston on Monday, Abbott announced that Texas is launching a comprehensive, statewide operation that will aggressively target the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua also know as (TdA) to disrupt their criminal operations and deny their foothold in the state during a press conference in Houston.
"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."
Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to elevate the TdA to a Tier 1 gang and to create a TdA Strike Team that will identify and arrest TdA 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," said Governor Abbott. "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," Abbott continued.
Gov. Abbott was joined 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," said DPS Director McCraw. "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. Governor Abbott has made it very clear: We will not allow any of these gangsters to gain a foothold in Texas," McCraw vowed.
With this designation, Texas will be able to use the courts to curb the gang’s criminal operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take their property, and enhance criminal penalties during prosecution.
Last year, Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 1900 into law that defined transnational drug cartels and criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations in the State of Texas and increased penalties for the distribution of illegal drugs and the operation of stash houses.
The TdA has also wreaked havoc in Colorado.
Four Venezuelan national members of the Tren de Aragua gang arrested in Aurora have been confirmed as illegal aliens, per a previous statement from an ICE spokesperson to Fox News.
The Venezuelan nationals, ranging in ages from 19 through 24, all crossed the southern border through Texas illegally in 2022 and 2023, under the Biden administration. All four were arrested by Aurora police and ICE has placed detainer requests on two of them.
The four were arrested after a shooting which occurred near Nome Street Apartments, one of the apartment buildings in Aurora which had reportedly been overtaken by armed members of Tren de Aragua.
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The Tren de Aragua is based mainly in Venezuela and has roughly 5,000 members between the South American country and the United States.
According to the House Committee on Homeland Security, there have been at least 7.8 million encounters with illegal aliens at the southwest border during the Biden administration. ICE makes determinations on a case-by-case basis.
Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
