Trump blocks Venezuelans’ deportation in last political gift
https://apnews.Com/general-news-international-news-88ba0f2a51b35bf8195e886d4210e5c3
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — With the clock winding down on his term, U.S. President Donald Trump shielded tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants from deportation Tuesday night, rewarding Venezuelan exiles who have been among his most loyal supporters and who fear losing the same privileged access to the White House during the Biden administration.
Trump signed an executive order deferring for 18 months the removal of more than 145,000 Venezuelans who were at risk of being sent back to their crisis-wracked homeland. He cited the “deteriorative condition” within Venezuela that constitutes a national security threat as the basis for his decision.
Bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua sets up shop in US as border authorities sound alarm
Suspects in NYC Cop Beating Identified as Members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Gang
Deportation Flights From the U.S. to Venezuela in Limbo
Flights sending Venezuelans back to their homeland have not taken off for two weeks. The move could be a setback to President Biden’s effort to tackle a migration surge.
February 19, 2024
Pawel Styrna
Senior Researcher
FAIR Take | February 2024
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
has now identified two of the suspects in the recent
beating of police officers in Times Square as members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. The alleged perpetrators, Wilson Juarez, 21, and Kelvin Servita-Arocha, 19, were officially charged last week in the Jan. 27 attack. They are now in ICE custody and being held without bail.
The arrests come as law enforcement is increasingly uncovering Tren de Aragua’s connection to criminal activity across the Big Apple. NYC police now believe Tren de Aragua gang members are responsible for
62 robberies all over NYC, committed while riding on mopeds. In one particularly vicious case, a woman in her 60s was
dragged down the sidewalk and slammed into a pole, sustaining serious injuries. Authorities believe the mastermind of the cell phone robbery scheme used social media (WhatsApp) to recruit criminal gang members from New York City’s taxpayer-funded migrant shelters and put out calls for cell phones. The phones were then hacked, the victims’ accounts drained, and the devices reprogrammed and sold by gang-affiliated fronts in Colombia.
With the scope of Tren de Aragua’s reach unfolding before their eyes, officials are scrambling to stop more gang-related crime before it happens. The New York City Police Department last week issued a “Situational Awareness Alert”
warning officers that Tren de Aragua is quickly spreading throughout City’s five boroughs. Similarly, New York State National Guard troops are being told to check all migrants arriving in NYC for distinctive tattoos linking them to the gang. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Tren de Aragua may be seeking to form a
potential alliance with street gangs already in the United States.
Reports indicate that the gang members have been coming through the southern border and then recruiting other migrants to join them especially unaccompanied minors in their teens.
