FIRST ON FOX: A violent Venezuelan gang that has committed crimes in multiple states in the U.S. is expanding across the country “like a slow growing cancer” and will impact the Americans “for decades,” according to a new report by a conservative organization.
The Heritage Foundation is publishing an issue brief on Tren de Aragua, and how it has become the latest transnational criminal organization to establish itself in the U.S., a surge that coincided with the historic crisis at the southern border.
“During the past few years, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have been released or paroled into the United States, allowed to stay in Temporary Protected Status, or just slipped in without being encountered by authorities (the “gotaways”),” the brief by Simon Hankinson and Erin Schnierderjan, an early copy of which was obtained by Fox News Digital, says. “Blending among them are hundreds of members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), which, like all migrant gangs, begins by preying on its own countrymen.”
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The suspected Tren de Aragua gang members engaged in illegal activity including illegal dumping and drug use, according to the El Paso County Attorneys Office. (KFOX14/El Paso County Attorneys Office)
The researchers say that Tren de Aragua began in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and has since expanded into Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the U.S. They say the threat from TdA echoes the Salvadoran MS-13 gang, which arrived in the 1980s and is regularly linked to crimes throughout the country.
“TdA expanded its network by creating alliances with other gangs and moved into areas following the pattern of Venezuelan migration into the U.S.,” they say.
The report quotes former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting Commissioner Mark Morgan, who oversaw a gang task force in the early 2000s targeting MS-13. His warning is stark, as he blames the rise of TdA on the current administration.
“Although MS-13 remains at the top of the list of the 50-plus different gangs from across the globe attempting to illegally enter our borders, the Biden–Harris Administration has intentionally provided the pathway for what could become MS-13 2.0,” he says.
“This is a gang whose propensity for violence and ruthlessness is well documented. TdA is expanding its criminal operations like a slow growing cancer across our nation and unleashing a preventable wave of crime that will be with us for decades,” he says.
The study also quotes Venezuela’s statistics showing that there has been a 25% drop in violent deaths between 2021 and 2022: “It is not implausible to postulate a link to Venezuela’s export of thousands of young criminals, many to the U.S.”
Meanwhile, there have been numerous crimes in the last year that have been linked to TdA, in states including Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Colorado and New York — where officials linked the gang to more than 62 robberies in New York City and suspected gang members were arrested for an assault on cops.
A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bulletin in March alerted agents to tattoos and other identifiers of the gang. The brother of the suspect in the killing of Georgia student Laken Riley has ties to the gang.
The gang has established a significant presence in parts of Colorado, where they have reportedly taken over a number of apartment blocks. Fox News Digital reported in July that TdA members have been given a “green light” to fire on or attack law enforcement in Denver.
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With that growing presence, former President Trump has promised to tackle the gang if elected next month. On Friday, he detailed “Operation Aurora” to remove TdA members.
The program would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle “every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”
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“I’m announcing today that upon taking office, we will have an operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs and I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Think of that 1798. This was put there 1790. Yeah, that’s a long time ago. Right?” Trump said Friday. “To target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”
He added: “Who would have ever thought that a president or a future president would ever have to stand here and say such things?”
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Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation report notes that there could be other instances of crimes committed by gang members that have been unreported. Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, recently pushed back against claims in the media that the gang was limited to a “handful” of apartment blocks.
“It is plausible that they have connections to Tren de Aragua or other violent gangs that are not always evident to U.S. law enforcement even after arrest,” the report says, warning that the crimes reported could be the “tip of the iceberg.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
