Tren de Aragua

Amid mass deportation hurdles, Trump Administration leverages El Salvador's mega-Prison to ease domestic strain

President Donald Trump's attempt to use a law passed in 1798 to target Venezuelan immigrants for deportation has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

"The organized crime group was, back then, used by foreign agencies like the FBI and the DEA with terrorist and destabilizing purposes against Venezuela," the authoritarian government said

The US has designated the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, the violent MS-13 organization and six major Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

A total of eight criminal groups rooted in Latin America are expected to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as early as this week

Over three dozen people currently held at the facility are in a "legal black hole," lawyers say, as their names have not been released and their crimes remain unknown

Ángel Leal analyzed the four potential avenues those seeking to stay legally in the country could pursue after TPS expires

"100+ members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were targeted for arrest and detention," the agency said

President Trump recently announced that Venezuela has agreed to accept deported Venezuelan nationals, including members of the notorious gang

Richard Grenell, Trump's Special Envoy, will meet with Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro to demand the dictator take any Tren de Aragua members that are deported by American officials.

The bust is one of New York's first major crackdowns on Tren de Aragua, which Trump declared a foreign terrorist organization

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is planning on discussing the matter during his visit to the country in the coming days

Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco has been linked to a video which shows armed men entering an apartment in Aurora, Colorado, last year

Drugs, weapons and cash were seized in the raid

Trump also added during his inaugural speech that he'd make use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to crack down on foreign criminal gangs

The Edge at Lowry will close in February following a decision by the city of Aurora

Authorities already suspected the link to the Venezuelan gang after discovering a tattoo of an owl on one of the accused, a symbol associated with the group

Whether the incoming president decides to intensifying sanctions or revive diplomacy will have a direct impact on the South American country's future

The gang members were part of a larger group of migrants, including unaffiliated individuals and families.

Investigative journalist Luis Chaparro claimed the tattoo means the accused Venezuelan men are "guides" in human smuggling operations

Jarwin Valero-Calderon had remained free and evaded mandatory check-ins with immigration authorities

The Edge at Lowry gained notoriety back in August when Trump claimed it had been taken over by the Venezuelan-born gang

Carlos Francisco Gómez Moreno, a.k.a "Bobby" is also the right-hand man of Héctor Guerrero Flores, a.k.a. "Niño Guerrero," the leader of Tren de Aragua

The decision to close the complex in Aurora is attributed to a broader lack of property management by the property's owners

Information from local law enforcement says Tren de Aragua is now working alongside groups such as La Linea, an armed wing of the Juárez Cartel

Maduro also said that he had "achieved a great space of peace and coexistence" in Venezuela and that he has always been willing to help the U.S.

Tren de Aragua has received national attention for different crimes committed by alleged members across the U.S. The Biden administration declared it a transnational criminal organization

TdA has quickly gained notoriety in the U.S., with a known presence in 15 states and a possible one in eight others

The letter compels Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide details on the scope of the gang's presence in the country

The Santa Teresa, New Mexico, station remains one of the busiest in the El Paso sector and nationwide for smuggling activity.