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Ahead of her rally in Houston on Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is demanding that Kamala Harris declare the violent Venezuelan Gang Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization.
“Vice President Kamala Harris conveniently claims she cares about securing our border, yet her open border policies have allowed over 11 million illegal immigrants and dangerous criminals, like Tren de Aragua, into our country in the last four years—putting the lives of every American at risk," said Governor Abbott. "In fact, today she’s in Houston, the same city where innocent 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was raped and murdered by two Tren de Aragua gang members. Jocelyn, her family, and all Americans deserve better. Vice President Harris must follow Texas’ lead and designate Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization immediately. But that's just a start. The Biden-Harris Administration must use the full weight of the federal government to eradicate them once and for all—for Jocelyn and for every American,” Abbott said in a statement.
Last month, Governor Abbott launched a comprehensive, statewide operation to aggressively target TdA to disrupt their criminal operations and deny their foothold in Texas. The Governor also designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization and directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to elevate them to a Tier 1 gang and to create a TdA Strike Team to identify and arrest TdA gang members. Working in collaboration with federal and local partners in the Houston Texas Anti-Gang Center, DPS recently captured and arrested a TdA gang member in Houston.
Additionally, Governor Abbott announced that his Public Safety Office is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of known or suspected members of TdA gang members who have been or are involved in criminal activity.
Despite all of that, The San Antonio Police Department confirmed that members of TdA had taken over vacant apartments in San Antonio. According to reports the gang is in control of up to four apartment complexes.