Texas, United States.– The Texas government declared the Tren de Aragua gang a terrorist organization on Monday and embraced the rhetoric of Republican candidate Donald Trump, who claims that many migrants are arriving in the United States from countries that have opened their prisons.
The Tren de Aragua gang, considered a transnational gang originating in Venezuela, operates in several South American countries, linked to extortion, homicides and drug trafficking. According to Texas authorities, they are also involved in migrant trafficking.
Due to the political, economic and social crisis in Venezuela, its citizens have access to a humanitarian program that allows them to reach the United States and begin the asylum process. But, for the Texas border czar, Mike Banks, “Venezuela has released prisoners with one condition: leave and don’t come back (…) It’s not surprising that we have a gang problem in the United States” and he blamed the “open borders” policy of President Joe Biden for the fact.
At his side, in a press conference on Monday in Houston, the Governor of Texas and Trump ally, Greg Abbott, declared the Tren de Aragua a “foreign terrorist organization” and announced a team to pursue what he considered a “Mara Salvatrucha on steroids.”
He reported that more than 20 people were recently arrested in a hotel in El Paso and it is “suspected” that “many of them are members of the Tren de Aragua.” Abbott’s announcement comes a week after, during the debate ahead of the November presidential elections, Trump blamed without evidence his opponent, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, of allowing the entry of migrants from prisons or mental institutions, while accusing another group of eating pets. Abbott justified the announcement in the face of an “increase in the arrival of young people of military age from Venezuela who appear to have the characteristics of a member of the Tren de Aragua.” He showed images of tattoos allegedly linked to the gang, such as a star, a train, an AK-47 rifle, the silhouette of Michael Jordan with the number 23 or the name of a Latin trap song. In July, the U.S. State Department admitted that the organization’s activity had spread into the country and offered a reward for three of its members who may be in Colombia and Venezuela, including its leader, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero, known as “Niño Guerrero.” Recently in Colorado, police arrested eight individuals they labeled as members of the Tren de Aragua and held them responsible for committing acts of violence against the migrant community.
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