Officials in Texas on Monday designated a Venezuelan gang called the Tren de Aragua as a “foreign terrorist group” and endorsed former President Donald Trump’s baseless claim that many migrants crossing into the United States were released from prisons in Latin America.
The Tren de Aragua is an international criminal organization that operates in several Latin American countries and engages in extortion, homicide, drug trafficking and smuggling of people, authorities say.
Because of a political and economic crisis in Venezuela, many people from that country are allowed to enter the United States and apply for asylum.
But Texas’s top border official, Mike Banks, argued that Venezuela “has released prisoners with one condition: you leave Venezuela and don’t come back.”
He said the administration of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is encouraging such people to come to the United States with what Banks called an open border policy.
Harris is running against Trump in November’s presidential election.
Greg Abbott formally declared Tren de Aragua a “foreign terrorist organization.”
That allows the authorities to go after the gang under a beefed up anti-terrorism law and also allows for the creation of a task force assigned specifically to fight the group.
Trump said Friday that if he becomes president, he will order large-scale deportations of migrants, beginning in Ohio and Colorado.
Trump said Friday he’s going to send those migrants “back to Venezuela,” although most of the migrants in Springfield are Haitian.
On Monday, Texas authorities labeled the Tren de Aragua, a gang from Venezuela, as a “foreign terrorist group” and supported the ludicrous assertion made by former President Donald Trump that a large number of migrants entering the country were freed from Latin American prisons.
Authorities claim that the Tren de Aragua is an international criminal organization that transacts extortion, homicide, drug trafficking, and people smuggling out of several Latin American countries.
Venezuela is experiencing a political and economic crisis, which has made it possible for a large number of its citizens to enter the US and apply for asylum.
However, Venezuela “has released prisoners with one condition: you leave Venezuela and don’t come back,” according to Texas’ top border official, Mike Banks. “.”.
He claimed that under what Banks referred to as an “open border policy,” the administrations of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are pushing for such individuals to immigrate to the US.
In November, there will be a presidential election, with Harris challenging Trump.
Supporters of immigration paint a very different picture, claiming that the Biden administration has severely clamped down on border crossings and placed excessive restrictions on individuals wishing to enter the country in order to apply for asylum.
In attendance at the press conference alongside Banks was Gov. Tren de Aragua was formally designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” by Greg Abbott. “.
This makes it possible for the government to pursue the gang in accordance with a more stringent anti-terrorism law and to form a task force whose primary goal is to combat the group.
On Friday, Trump declared that he would order mass deportations of immigrants, starting in Ohio and Colorado, if elected president.
Following his earlier this week debate with Harris, in which he made the refuted claim that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are consuming the pets dogs and cats of locals, the vow was made.
Despite the fact that the majority of the migrants in Springfield are Haitians, Trump declared on Friday that he would send those individuals “back to Venezuela.”.
