Gov. Greg Abbott announced several plans to assist state law enforcement in going after the rapidly growing Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua on Monday.
Abbott revealed that he would declare the gang a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” according to Texas Government Code Chapter 2270. The designation allows authorities to forfeit the assets of suspected TDA associates.
Abbott was joined at the Monday press conference announcing the plan of action by Department of Public Safety Director Steven C. McCraw and Border Czar Mike Banks.
“TDA is notorious for their brutal violence and murder, and their kidnapping, extortion, bribery, and trafficking of drugs, weapons, and even humans. They’ve been linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations across the country,” explained Abbott.
The gang has “been given the green light to shoot law enforcement officers in the United States,” the governor added.
In addition to the FTO designation, Abbott further designated TDA as a “Tier 1” gang. A 2018 Department of Public Safety threat assessment defines Tier 1 gangs as posing the “greatest threat to the state.”
Tango Blast and associated Tango cliques, the Texas Mexican Mafia, MS-13, and Barrio Azteca were other gangs listed as Tier 1 at the time.
Notably, TDA is already considered a “Transnational Criminal Organization” by federal officials.
Abbott said that the designations would coincide with a statewide operation targeting TDA through a task force made up of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.
A new state database aimed at identifying TDA members through shared characteristics like “tattoos, scars, marks, types of crime, and methods of operation” will be used throughout the operation.
McCraw later expanded upon what the operation will look like in practice due to certain challenges, noting that the federal government has been unhelpful thus far in disclosing the locations of Venezuelan illegal aliens.
“We’ll not allow any of these TDA gangsters to gain a foothold in Texas. To that end, Texas anti-gang centers already have ongoing criminal enterprise investigations against TDA and all of the operational areas throughout the state,” stated McCraw.
“We are requesting that our federal partners provide us the whereabouts of these Venezuelan migrants,” he continued. “That’s very important because, unfortunately, you’re either a TDA member or a victim of TDA.”
Border Czar Mike Banks laid the blame for the nationwide TDA crisis as a “direct result” of the “open border policies” instituted by the Biden-Harris administration.
“The Biden-Harris administration has sent out an all-call to the world that you [can] cross this border without any consequences,” said Banks, who proceeded to criticize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s vetting policies.
A graphic shared by the DPS during the press conference showed the majority of TDA activity in the state has been centered around major metropolitan areas, including Austin, Dallas, Houston, and El Paso.
El Paso was the site of a recent TDA bust at the city’s Gateway Hotel, which was temporarily shut down last week after authorities accused its owner of illegally operating the hotel and facilitating the gang’s criminal activity.
Records also show that four TDA members that ravaged Aurora, Colorado, earlier this month were caught and released by the Biden-Harris administration after arriving through the Texas-Mexico border in 2022 and 2023.
Overall, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 499,428 Venezuelan illegal aliens between Jan 1, 2021, and September 3, 2024, in Texas-based sectors.
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