U.S. officials have warned that violent Venezuelan gangs are coming to the country as the Venezuelan Supreme Court continues to release career criminals from their prisons.
Venezuelan Supreme Court Justice Magistrate Edgar Gavidia announced that 100 of these violent criminals have been released and they are expected to release more on a case-by-base basis.
The criminals are coming from notoriously brutal prisons in Venezuela, notably the Yare and Yare II prisons, as well as a third known as “El Rodeo.”
Many of these inmates are members of a brutal gang known as Tren de Aragua, and they have already been linked to rounds of violence within the United States. It has been learned that the prime suspect in the Laken Riley case has been linked to the gang. In light of this, the tragic crime suddenly starts to make more sense, as the perpetrator was not just some ordinary person who decided to become deviant, but someone with dark criminal ties.
Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), have called on President Joe Biden to take immediate action and label Tren de Aragua a “Transnational Criminal Organization.” In a letter to the president, they stated “If left unchecked, they will unleash an unprecedented reign of terror, mirroring the devastation it has already inflicted in communities throughout Central and South America, most prominently in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.”
Of course, with the southern border completely wide open and illegal immigrants deliberately being released into the nation instead of immediately deported, such measures can only be effective in the most limited ways. Until the border is sealed and ICE agents are allowed to do their jobs without being harassed by leftist politicians, criminals will continue to stream into the nation unchecked.
Opinion | Venezuelan gangs are importing next-level brutality, fear to our streets. We must stop them now https://t.co/O48P6ojNll
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 15, 2024
Customs and Border Protection are already being instructed to be on the lookout for members of the notorious gang, and are being given intelligence briefings to know exactly what to look for, including tattoos and other possible identifiers.
In 2023, only 834 Venezuelans were deported out of 335,000 who were encountered at the southern border. It is unclear how many out of such a large number would be violent criminals, but the vastness of the number does not give comforting odds.
