HOUSTON, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott on Monday designated Venezuela's Tren de Aragua (TdN) gang a foreign terrorist organization, a move that gives Texas law enforcement additional tools and resources to target the gang and “disrupt their criminal activity and cut off their foothold in our state,” the governor said.
“We are designating Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. Our goal is to protect Texas from the growing threat this organization poses,” Governor Abbott said at a press conference on Monday.
TdN Gang Tats — Texas DPS
“The recent expansion and growth of the violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, is a dangerous and deadly issue facing our state and our nation,” Abbott explained. “Our primary concern is the safety and security of all Texans.”
The Governor also designated the TdN Gang a Tier 1 gang and ordered the formation of TdA Strike Teams to identify and arrest TdN Gang members.
Governor Abbott's move comes after news of violence perpetrated by alleged TdN gang members forced a Texas district judge to order the closure of a hotel in El Paso, Breitbart Texas reported. City officials filed a lawsuit against the hotel's owners after fielding approximately 700 calls for service to the Gateway Hotel's address.
Tren de Aragua gang allegedly takes over El Paso hotel (El Paso County Attorney's Office)
Texas Department of Public Safety Commissioner Colonel Steve McCraw likened the spread of TdN gang violence to an infestation of cockroaches.
“They multiply very quickly, and if you don't aggressively pursue them, small incursions into communities can become epidemic,” Colonel McCraw told reporters at a news conference. “These Venezuelan thugs are very combative, they're very violent and they're certainly adaptable.”
McCraw explained that gang members are involved in human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, rape, assault and sex trafficking.
“Governor Abbott has made it clear that he will never allow these gangs to gain a foothold in Texas,” McCraw said.
Texas Border Patrol Officer Mike Banks placed the blame for the influx of Venezuelan gang members squarely on the Biden-Harris administration's open border policies.
“Let me be very clear: the Tren de Aragua issue we're seeing in Texas and other parts of the U.S. is a direct result of our open border policy,” Banks said. “So it's not surprising that we have a problem with illegal criminal organizations in the U.S., and thankfully, we're addressing that problem.”
In fiscal year 2020, President Donald Trump's final full year in office, Border Patrol agents apprehended just 465 Venezuelan migrants crossing from Mexico into five Texas districts. In the first year of the Biden-Harris administration, crossings increased dramatically, with nearly 68,000 Venezuelan migrants apprehended.
Texas DPS releases slides on Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua”
According to a report from Texas DPS officials, from fiscal years 21 to 24, Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 499,000 Venezuelan migrants who entered the United States illegally in five Border Patrol jurisdictions in Texas.
Governor Abbott designated certain Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in September 2022, Breitbart Texas reported. “The cartels are terrorists and it's time to treat them as such,” Governor Abbott said at the time.
The executive order identified the Sinaloa Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as a terrorist organization. The President called on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to designate these cartels, and other organizations that manufacture and distribute fentanyl, as federal terrorist organizations.
The Governor subsequently signed Senate Bill 1900 in June 2023, making the executive order into law.
Governor Abbott called the TdN gang “an extreme version of the violent MS-13 gang,” which he said began as a Venezuelan prison gang before morphing into an international crime organization that “controls the international flow of immigrants from South America through Mexico and into the United States.”
Here is the statement from the Texas Governor's Office:
Additionally, Governor Abbott officially Signed the Declaration The Governor of Texas has designated TdA a Foreign Terrorist Organization. This designation allows Texas to use the courts to curb the gang's criminal activities, use civil asset forfeiture to seize their property, and increase criminal penalties during prosecution. The Governor has also directed the Texas State Police to form a TdA Strike Team to aggressively target TdA's criminal activities in Texas. This Strike Team will include DPS assets and hundreds of personnel, including DPS Highway Patrol troopers, special agents, and Texas Rangers. They will work with the Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Center and law enforcement agencies to focus resources on areas where TdA activity is known to be occurring.
At the Governor's direction, DPS is elevating TdA to a Tier 1 gang, ensuring Texas has the resources it needs to disrupt gang criminal activity in the state. With this new elevation, DPS will work in conjunction with federal and local partners through state-funded TAG Centers in El Paso, Houston, Irving, Laredo, Lubbock, McAllen, San Antonio, Tyler and Waco. TAG Centers are home to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who work together to identify, target, investigate, subdue and prosecute violent offenders across the state.
“Our goal is to protect Texas from the growing threat of gangs,” Governor Abbott concluded in his Monday address. “We will not allow gangs to use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens.”
“They are being targeted and we are going after them,” the governor said. “Texas is the wrong state for them to do business.”
Bob Price Price is deputy editor and senior news contributor for Breitbart Texas Border Team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a reporter for Fox 26 Houston. What is your argument? Sunday Morning He also serves as chairman of the talk show. Blue Wonder Cancer Care Products.
