ICE Arrests 68 More Tren de Aragua Gang Members

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Federal authorities arrested 68 members of the notorious gang Tren De Aragua this week, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“In less than 100 days, the Trump Administration has arrested 394 members of the Tren De Aragua—a vicious gang known for human trafficking, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and other heinous acts terrorizing American communities,” DHS stated.

Tren De Aragua originated in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and later spread to other South American nations and the United States. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a presidential action which called for designating transnational organizations as terror groups. The State Department officially designated Tren De Aragua as a terrorist organization last month.

“This has allowed a whole of government approach to dismantle this criminal terrorist gang,” the agency said.

“Members of this vicious terrorist gang are responsible for the brutal assault and murder of nursing student Laken Riley and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray,” DHS said.

Riley was murdered in February last year by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the United States in 2022. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Nungaray was killed in Houston in June last year, and two illegal immigrants from Venezuela were charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder.

“Tren De Aragua is a terrorist organization whose members are rapists, drug traffickers, and murderers. We will continue to make sure these dirtbags are removed from America’s streets and face justice,” said a DHS spokesperson.

This week, a coordinated effort from multiple law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of Ricardo Gonzales, 32, a high-ranking member of the Tren De Aragua, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a March 21 statement.

Gonzales had an arrest warrant for kidnapping and he is wanted for first-degree murder—charges stemming from a Jan. 28 incident in which he is accused of kidnapping three females, taking them to an alley, and shooting them in the head. Two of the victims died, while the third survived.

“This defendant’s crimes against American women are horrific, and he is exactly the type of Alien Enemy the Trump administration is fighting to remove from this country in order to make America safe again,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

Judicial Action

Trump recently issued a presidential proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations of Venezuelans aged 14 and above who are members of the gang and are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.

Just hours before the proclamation was issued, a lawsuit was filed by five Venezuelans who were being processed for deportation, following which, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked their deportation.

Later, Boasberg also issued an order granting class action certification for all noncitizens in the United States who would be subject to Trump’s presidential proclamation.

The Alien Enemies Act is a rarely used law that allows foreigners to be quickly deported from the United States during an invasion or war.

According to the proclamation, “evidence irrefutably demonstrates that [Tren De Aragua] has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens.”

In a restraining order issued by Boasberg, the judge said the Act “does not provide a basis for the president’s proclamation given that the terms invasion, predatory incursion really relate to hostile acts perpetrated by any nation and commensurate to war.”

On March 18, a coalition of 26 Republican state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, supporting the president’s efforts.

The brief called for lifting the restraining order, arguing that Trump’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act was grounded in clear statutory and constitutional authority.

During a hearing on the case on March 21, Boasberg said the Act’s invocation to deport Tren De Aragua members has “incredibly troublesome” policy implications.

“Why was this law essentially signed in the dark and these people essentially rushed onto planes?” he asked Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign, referring to Venezuelan nationals being deported.

Ensign said the deportations were in accordance with U.S. laws, and the illegal immigrants were free to challenge the legality of their arrests. Almost 300 Venezuelan nationals suspected of being Tren De Aragua members were deported last week under Trump’s proclamation.