Abbott declares Venezuelan gang a foreign terrorist organization

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a proclamation declaring the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) a foreign terrorist organization during a press conference in Houston on Monday.

“Today, I am officially declaring TDA a foreign terrorist organization,” Abbott said.

“We will bring the full weight of the government against TDA. By declaring TDA a foreign terrorist organization, Texas will use force to halt their operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take their property, use enhanced criminal penalties to keep them in jail behind bars for longer periods of time.”

He then signed a formal proclamation officially marking TDA as a foreign terrorist organization. 

Abbott continued, “TDA is notorious for their brutal violence and murder, their kidnapping, extortions, bribery, and trafficking of drugs, weapons, and even humans. They’ve been linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations. They were involved in the brutal attack and assault upon the New York Police Department.”

Abbott signed a similar order in September 2022, after writing a letter to the Biden admin which declared any criminal cartels that traffic fentanyl into Texas as terrorist organizations. 

About a year later, Abbott signed a number of bills and security measures specifically targeting illegal immigration, and increasing funding for federal border patrol agents, stating “Washington D.C. has failed to do its job to secure our border.”

“TDA has also been linked to the murder of Laken Riley,” Abbott said in reference to the murder of 22-year-old Augusta University student in February, allegedly committed by Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra, who was in the country illegally. 

“Intelligence reports show that TDA has been given the green light to shoot law enforcement officers in the United States,” Abbott said.

The governor then described the alleged typical order of operations for Venezuelan gangs such as TDA when establishing control in a certain area.

“History has shown they first flood the country with military-age Venezuelan men and then they begin to establish a base of operations. Finally, TDA begins a spree of violent and bloody activity.”

“We’ve now seen the beginnings of this operation in the state of Texas,” Abbott said.

He shared that since 2021, “more than 3,000 illegal immigrants” from Venezuela have been arrested in Texas and “more than 200” are wanted.

Abbott also shared that while there is currently no database to track TDA’s members and activity across the state , the Texas Department of Public Safety will be collaborating with federal and local law enforcement to establish one.