Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has warned its officers to be on the lookout for members of a notorious Venezuelan prison gang coming across the southern border, just as the socialist country is refusing to let its citizens return. There is.
CBP officials provided Fox News with a CBP internal intelligence bulletin revealing the tattoos and identity of Venezuelan prison gangster Torren de Aragua. Members of the gang enter the United States illegally through the southern border.
FOX News reported this week that the brother of the suspect in the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley has gang ties. Both the suspect and his brother are Venezuelans who entered the United States illegally.
Laken Riley murder suspect’s illegitimate brother has ties to Venezuelan criminal organizations: Department of Justice
These images are from a CBP intelligence bulletin and show Torren de Aragua’s tattoos and identifiers.
Federal authorities have warned that the gang, also known as TdA, which has expanded into other countries in Latin America and is known for violent turf wars, is trying to establish itself in the United States, and police have already established ties with organized crime. We are currently making connections. . The FBI also warned that the gang could collaborate with the bloodthirsty MS-13.
Last month, two suspects in the assault of two NYPD officers were identified as TdA members.
However, CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials complained to Fox News that deporting Venezuelan gang members is extremely difficult because Venezuela is not currently taking them back.
According to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), only 834 Venezuelans were deported in fiscal year 2023, despite more than 335,000 people encountered at the border. The regime had begun deporting illegal migrants from Venezuela directly to the socialist dictatorship in October as part of measures to stem the flow to the border.
Administration officials told reporters in January that the flight had come under heavy criticism from migrant activists who argued that Venezuela was not the right country to return migrants due to human rights violations. He said he is considering increasing the number of flights.
“There is certainly an intention to increase repatriation flights to Venezuela,” one official said, adding that the administration views this as “an important part” of a broader immigration strategy.
“This is an important deterrent,” they said, adding that officials were also pleased that Mexico was also directing migrants to Venezuela.
FBI fears Venezuelan immigrant gang members may team up with MS-13 killers
In December, the administration had made a limited exception to sanctions against Venezuelan airlines to facilitate deportation flights from Canada and Latin America.
But last month, the Wall Street Journal reported: Maduro’s government has ceased Flights of deported migrants from both the U.S. and Mexico began operating after the U.S. reimposed some economic sanctions. Officials said the flights ended at the end of January after about 1,800 people returned home.
Prior to the launch last year, the administration had already extended deportation protection in September to nearly half a million Venezuelans living in the United States. Venezuela also participates in the controversial Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV), which allows 30,000 sponsored immigrants to enter the United States by air each month. There is.
Foxx has been told that while Venezuelans can still be deported to Mexico, many then typically re-enter the United States illegally as “fugitives.”
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
