As the Biden-Harris border crisis continues, Governor Greg Abbott made a stop in Houston to announce new efforts to stop the vicious Venezuelan gang 'TDA' - Tren De Aragua.
"I am officially declaring TDA a foreign terrorist organization" Abbott said. "We will bring the full weight of the government against the TDA."
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Texas is launching a comprehensive, statewide operation that will aggressively target the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) to disrupt their criminal operations and deny their foothold in the state during a press conference in Houston. Speaking at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Southeast Texas Regional Headquarters, the Governor also deignated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, directing DPS to elevate them to a Tier 1 gang and to create a TdA Strike Team that will identify and arrest TdA gang members.
“The recent entry and expansion of the vicious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, is a dangerous and deadly problem facing our state and nation,” said Governor Abbott. “Our top focus is the safety and security of all Texans. To address this looming threat, I have ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to launch a statewide operation directly targeting Tren de Aragua to deter and disrupt their criminal operation. I am also officially designating Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. Our goal is to defend Texas from the growing threat of the gang. We will not let them use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens. They have a target on their back, and we are going after them. Texas is the wrong state for them to try to do business in.”
The Governor was joined at the press conference by DPS Director Steve McCraw, Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, and National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera.