What you need to know about the Venezuelan gang that Texas is targeting

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

What is Tren de Aragua?

Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan gang that started in a prison in the state of Aragua and has since expanded into Central America and the United States, including Texas, New York, Colorado and Wisconsin. The group focuses on human smuggling and other criminal activity that targets migrants, such as kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking.

According to a report from Transparency Venezuela, the group adopted its name between 2013 and 2015 but may have begun operations earlier.

What is Texas doing to target the gang?

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a proclamation on Sept. 16 that declares the gang a foreign terrorist organization. He also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to mobilize a strike team with state troopers, Texas Rangers, and other law enforcement groups to pursue the gang wherever they are known to be operating in Texas.

Declaring the gang a foreign terrorist organization means gang members could face increased sentences for crimes such as distributing illegal drugs. State law also authorizes civil penalties against foreign terrorist organizations.

Texas doesn’t have a database that tracks individuals affiliated with Tren de Aragua, but Abbott announced that law enforcement officers would work to create one.

How does the gang operate?

The group started by extorting businesses in Venezuela and then began trafficking humans into Colombia, Peru and Chile. According to Abbott, the organization seeks to infiltrate countries and set up a base of operation for their criminal activity. DPS Director Steve McCraw said El Paso was the gang’s “ground zero.”

Is the gang a major public safety threat in Texas?

According to Abbott, there has been Tren de Aragua activity in Texas since 2021. He said more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants from Venezuela have been arrested in Texas for crimes such as human smuggling, and another more than 200 are wanted.

Michael Shifter, a senior fellow with the Inter-American Dialogue, a foreign policy think tank, said the gang poses a greater risk to Latin American countries such as Peru, Colombia and Chile. Still, Shifter said, the organization should be taken seriously.

“It is clearly a major problem that needs to be dealt with,” he said. “I think there’s reason to be confident that U.S. law enforcement can handle it.”

Did the gang take over a hotel in El Paso?

During his press conference, Abbott noted that more than 100 TDA members had been arrested at the Gateway Hotel in downtown El Paso on charges including human smuggling and possession of illegal drugs. Some media reports described it as a “takeover” of the hotel by the gang.

The 121-year-old hotel was shut down on Sept. 12 because of broad criminal activity, not because of any specific gang, according to the El Paso County Attorney. The hotel had operated without a valid certificate of occupancy and was the scene of persistent criminal activity including aggravated assaults, criminal trespass, public intoxication and burglary, according to the county attorney’s office. Police reports note that criminal activity increased in the hotel because of Tren de Aragua.

How is the gang’s activity playing into U.S. politics?

When he announced the state crackdown on the gang, Abbott said Texas has seen “slow but increasing activity of TDA in our state” which he blamed on President Joe Biden. “The fact of the matter is, this is something that has exploded in the aftermath of the president saying that if you’re from Venezuela, you’ll be allowed in the United States.”

In January, the Biden administration announced a humanitarian parole program allowing certain people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to live and work lawfully in the U.S. for up to two years.

Abbott’s press conference came on the heels of the presidential debate, where former president Donald Trump brought up online right-wing reports of Venezuelan gangs “taking over” a Colorado apartment complex.

Shifter said Abbott’s move must be looked at in the context of the upcoming presidential election, since Trump has hammered on the narrative that undocumented immigrants are invading the country, committing crimes and stealing jobs from Americans.

“Trump has clearly highlighted this in the debate and is trying to stoke fear,” Shifter said. “I think Gov. Abbott is trying to ratchet it up saying this is a major transnational group and the Biden-Harris administration has not been effective in containing it.”