A legal watchdog group has begun a series of investigations into the ascent of a dangerous Venezuelan gang in the United States.
America First Legal has started an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it said in a press release.
The investigations are focused on the growing presence of the dangerous Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang in Aurora, Colorado.
“Today, America First Legal (AFL) launched investigations into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), concerning the growing violent illegal alien gang activity spreading in Aurora, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois, and western Wisconsin,” the group said in the press release.
“On August 29, 2024, viral surveillance footage showed Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) members carrying guns and entering an apartment complex in the City of Aurora, Colorado. It’s been reported they engaged in flagrant trespassing, assault and battery, unlawful firearm possession, and other criminal activity. On September 3, 2024, Venezuelan gangsters were connected with a distress call from Chicago, Illinois, alleging members were armed and taking over a city building. Later that week, on Thursday, September 5, 2024, authorities in western Wisconsin arrested a likely Tren de Aragua member on multiple charges of domestic violence,” it said.
“These gang members would not be present if the United States had a secure southern border. Accordingly, AFL has requested records from DHS and the FBI concerning the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang presence in Colorado, Illinois, and Wisconsin. AFL also demanded records on the state level between local law enforcement in each state and the federal government to uncover any and all communications that the Biden-Harris administration may have received about this rising threat to public safety,” the press release said.
“AFL will continue to fight for the protection of every American and against the recklessness allowed by the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies,” it said.
“The Biden-Harris administration’s deliberate decision to open our borders to the world is what allowed for violent Venezuelan gangs to run rampant in American communities. The crimes committed by these aliens are—by definition—preventable, but this administration has decided to ignore public safety and prioritize the importation of hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. If Border Czar Harris were serious about eliminating the threat of foreign gang behavior in the United States, she would secure the border and deport illegal aliens from the United States. It’s that simple,” America First Legal Executive Director Gene Hamilton said.
Now a group of Republican states, led by Texas, is suing over one of those policies known as “parole in place.”
The Republican states said in the lawsuit that the program creates a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, skirting by Congress, for “political purposes,” Just The News reported.
“This action incentivizes illegal immigration and will irreparably harm the Plaintiff states,” the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.
The program was started on Monday and it allows the illegal immigrant spouses of citizens to stay in the United States and apply for a green card with a pathway to become citizens.
“In order to qualify for the program, the spouse must have been in the United States for at least 10 years, have no disqualifying criminal history, and have been married to the U.S. citizen by June 17,” the report said.
But the administration said it would defend the program and accused Republicans of “playing politics” with the border and not searching for a solution to the crisis.
“This lawsuit is seeking to force U.S. citizens and their families, people who have lived in the United States for more than ten years, to continue to live in the shadows,” a spokesperson for the White House said.
