More than 800,000 Venezuelan migrants have come to the US in the past four years, including hundreds of members of the brutal prison gang Tren de Aragua.
But the Biden administration abandoned efforts to deport criminals and gangbangers in January after the Venezuelan government stopped accepting deportation flights from the US.
This is a problem that President-elect Donald Trump must solve if he is to fulfill his promise to end mass deportations.
Tom Homan, the man Trump as his border czar to lead deportation and border security efforts, said the incoming administration has plenty of leverage to force Venezuela to begin sanctioning deportations — including threatening even more sanctions and withholding aid, which totaled $209 million Last year.
“They got El Salvador to take back MS-13, they got Mexico to agree to the program to remain in Mexico. So I have confidence in President Trump to work with the Venezuelan president,” Homan said.
Venezuela has been one of the largest sources of migrants traveling to the US. Millions of Venezuelans have fled their home country in recent years, fleeing corruption and economic collapse brought by the communist regime of President Nicolas Maduro.
The Biden administration enacted policies to grant Venezuelans Temporary Protected Status, which protects them from deportation and fast-track work permits — making travel even more attractive.
Tren de Aragua saw an opportunity with the influx of Venezuelans into the US and began presenting themselves as asylum seekers when infiltrating the country. Many members avoided meeting gang sign tattoos So that it cannot be detected while crossing the border.
Former acting ICE chief Ron Vitiello, who served during Trump’s first term, said the gang only began to appear on the radar of border officials and local police during the Biden administration.
“There are no arrests of any Tren de Aragua members in CBP data reported prior to 2021. Think about it, it’s incredible. I remained in the government for 34 years. “I had never heard of Tren de Aragua until it became a thing in New York after I moved in 2021,” Vitiello told The Post.
Venezuelan prison gang is now Set up shop in at least 16 states And its members have committed heinous crimes, including the murder of Georgia nursing student Lacan Riley.
Venezuela’s moratorium on deporting migrants means that members of the Tren de Aragua cannot be deported either – even if police identify them as a threat.
Some gang members have been released from custody after being busted for minor crimes – and they have turned to violence.
is an alleged example Nifred Serpa-Acosta20, who was arrested by ICE officers for multiple burglaries earlier this year but released on July 17. A month later, he made headlines when he was allegedly part of an armed group that attacked an apartment complex in suburban Aurora, Colorado.
Homeland Security sources previously told The Post that Serpa-Acosta had already admitted to being a TDA member and even had the tattoos to prove it before ICE released him.
Venezuela was accepting US deportation flights almost weekly until January wall street journalAll this came to a halt when the Biden-Harris administration imposed new sanctions on the authoritarian regime.
Now it’s up to Trump to start deporting Venezuelan criminals again. Here’s how he can do it.
imposing sanctions and pulling national aid
Wes Tabor, who was in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s office in Caracas in 2012, said resuming deportations could be done through a “business-like” approach to “economically crush” the oil-rich country. Is.
“He will have no choice with Trump because if he extends his hand and tries to do something with him appropriately… and if he (Maduro) puts his little finger on Trump. Trump is going to do everything he can to crush them economically,” Tabor said.
A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
“Forcibly” deport TDA
Venezuelan dissident Daniel de Martino said that although the task is “complex”, Trump may attempt to “forcibly” send Venezuelan gangsters back to the country without the government’s permission.
“On at least one occasion when this happened to Haiti, the U.S. Coast Guard forcibly returned people to the coast of Haiti without the consent of the Haitian government,” said Di Martino, who is also a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Said.
Such operations could involve sending deported migrants to the Caribbean or Colombia and then putting them on boats that land on Venezuelan beaches.
deportation to a third country
Another option is to pay another country to house deported immigrants.
John Fabricator, who previously headed ICE’s Denver office, said Trump could certainly “approach” a country like Colombia in exchange for aid and economic trade.
However, Colombia – which is struggling Arrival of approximately 3 million Venezuelan refugees – The US is likely to be reluctant to take convicted criminals.
(Tags to translate)US news(T)illegal immigrants(T)Tren de Aragua(T)Venezuela
