Salazar and Rubio Call for Designation of Tren de Aragua Gang as a Transnational Criminal Organization

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) led their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden requesting he formally designate the vicious Tren de Aragua gang as a Transnational Criminal Organization.

Tren de Aragua is a well-known criminal organization that originated in the prisons of Venezuela and has extended throughout our hemisphere. This transnational criminal structure has perpetrated murders, bribery schemes, drug-trafficking, kidnappings, extortions, arms trafficking, and money laundering.

“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,” wrote the lawmakers.

As Chairwoman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Salazar is a leading voice on fighting gang violence and promoting economic security in our hemisphere. She continues to champion a return to democracy in Venezuela, including denouncing the Venezuelan regime’s partnership with criminal elements to impede democratic forces from removing Maduro.

Joining Rubio and Salazar were Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), and John Cornyn (R-TX) as well as Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Carlos Giménez (R-FL), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR), Mike Waltz (R-FL), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), C. Scott Franklin (R-FL), Randy Weber (R-TX), Jim Baird (R-IN), and Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY).

To read the full letter, click here.

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