Texas launches targeted crackdown on Venezuela gang

Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization on Monday and launched a statewide campaign against it. Texas will not be the Tren de Aragua’s base of operations, Abbott said at a Monday news conference. The gang members have been entering the United States most frequently by illegal southern border crossings. Over 100 suspected Tren de Aragua gang members were arrested in April in the group of migrants that broke through the El Paso border and overwhelmed the Texas National Guard, Abbott said.

What is Tren de Aragua? It is involved in human smuggling, extortion, kidnappings, rape, assaults, and sex trafficking of migrants, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw explained. Texas officials will now have a greater ability to curb the group’s activity, using powers like civil asset forfeiture to seize gang property, for example. The U.S. Treasury Department designated Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization in July as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s response to the rising gang threat.

Dig deeper: Read my report on an immigration bill introduced to Texas state legislators in August, named after a girl allegedly killed by Venezuelan nationals.