President Trump’s executive order on Saturday evokes The Law on Extraterrestrial Laws Target Venezuelan citizens 14 years and older with ties to multinational gang Tren de Aragua and stated that “they can be detained, restricted, secured and removed as extraterrestrial enemies”.
Mr. Trump’s command was rapidly questioned in court, but the gang has been a growing source of concerns for US officials in the last year. Biden Administration marked Tren de Aragua and a multinational criminal organization in 2024 Police Department in New York emphasized its activities on the east coast and the White House Trump started the trial designation It is a foreign terrorist organization in January.
Here’s what we know about the gang:
Growing force from Venezuela
Aragua (Aragua train or Aragua train) roots In Tocorón prison in the state of Venezuela in northern Aragua, which had the leaders of the group transformed into a mini-milestone With swimming pool, restaurants and zoo. Reportedly, they noticed executions and torture to maintain control of other prisoners.
When Venezuela’s economy collapsed and her government under President Nicolás Maduro became more repressive, the group began to abuse vulnerable migrants. The influence of Tren de Aragua soon reached into other parts of Latin America and evolved into one of the most annoying and famous criminal organizations in the region focusing on sex trading, smuggling people and drugs.
Colombian officials in 2022 accused the gang of at least 23 murders after the police began finding part of the body in bags. The alleged members were also detained in Chile And in Brazil, where the gang coped with Primeiro Comando da Capital, one of the greatest rings of organized crime of this country.
Recent entry into the United States
Despite many unknowns about its true size or sophistication in the United States, Tren de Aragua has become a real source of interest in enforcement of law in the last few years.
IN New York CityAccording to the police, the gang focused on the theft of mobile phones; Retail theft, especially top goods in department stores and theft while driving on scooters; And dealing with a pink, powder synthetic remedy, known as Tusi, often walks through ketamine, MDMA or fentanyl.
The police also said that the gang is assumed to hire members from the inside of the city shelters, and had conflicts in various ways or connected with other gangs.
In other parts of the country, people accused of association with Tren de Aragua were charged with crimes as shooting And trading in people, mostly focused on members of the Venezuelan community.
In May 2024, federal officials revealed a ring for sex trading, stating that the gang was forcing Venezuelan women to sex to pay off debts to smugglers who helped with border crossings. The ring stretched over Louisian, Texas, Virginia, Florida and New Jersey, according to a complaint filed in a federal court.
The presence of a group in the United States was the point of elections 2024 because Mr. Trump accused Biden’s administration of the release of criminals into the country. During the presidential debate falsely proposed that Gang took over Auror, Colo.
Stigma source for migrants
Trump’s administration has repeatedly described Tren de Aragua as the focus of its deportation effort. Venezuela migrants seeking asylum claims that the presence of the gang and discourse around him in the United States created harmful stigma and discrimination.
“Any of us who has tattoos thinks we are Tren de Aragua,” said Evelyn Velasquez, 33 -year -old Venezuelan woman, said New York Times in September. “I’ll go to ask for a job and when he hear that we are Venezuelan, he refuses us down.”
In February, the White House press secretary said 10 men detained and placed in the Gulf GuantánamoCuba were members of Tren de Aragua. The sister of one of the men detained said he wasn’t a member of the gang.
At the end of February, Trump’s administration suddenly emptied two details that the government held by 177 Venezuelans, who flew from the United States, including a military prison building previously used to hold terrorism. Federal officials moved the second group Migrants this month.
