Florida Senator
Marco Rubio (R) and Florida Rep.
Maria Elvira Salazar (R) are going after Tren de Aragua. In a
letter to President
Joe Biden (D), Senator Rubio and Rep. Salazar are calling on the president to designate Tren de Aragua as a Transnational Criminal Organization.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) expressed his concern with the gang this week on social media. Sharing an interview he took part in with Fox News, the Texas Republican argued that crime is down in Venezuela “because international gangs like Tren de Aragua are flocking to the United States.”
https://twitter.com/chiproytx/status/1768095884087013803
Given that Tren de Aragua is a criminal organization that originated in the prisons of Venezuela and has since extended throughout the Western hemisphere, the Florida lawmakers are seeking to address any possible expansion in the United States and in the hemisphere. Tren de Aragua has been involved in murders, bribery schemes, drug-trafficking, kidnappings, extortions, arms trafficking, and money laundering.
In their letter to the president, Senator Rubio and Rep. Salazar express that “Tren de Aragua is an invading criminal army from a prison in Venezuela that has spread their brutality and chaos to U.S. cities and small towns. 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. The breadth of Tren de Aragua's operations encompasses murder, drug and human trafficking, sex crimes, extortion, and kidnapping, among other brutalities."
Joining Senator Rubio and Rep. Salazar in directing the letter to the president are Florida Senator
Rick Scott (R) and Texas Senator
John Cornyn (R), as well as Florida Reps.
Carlos Gimenez (R),
Mike Waltz (R),
Gus Bilirakis (R),
Mario Diaz-Balart (R),
C. Scott Franklin (R), and Texas Reps.
Tony Gonzalez (R),
Lance Gooden (R),
Dan Crenshaw (R), and
Randy Weber (R), among others.
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