President Trump has condemned lax controls on the southern border for being to blame for violent gangs ‘pouring in’ to the US, amid fears that the influence of a Venezuelan ‘super gang’ is spreading across the country.
‘Who would ask for open borders, with people pouring in. Some of whom, who… I won’t get into it… but you can look at them and you can say ‘could be trouble, could be trouble,” the president said in a Fox News interview.
‘There are people coming in with tattoos all over their face. Their entire face is covered in tattoos,’ he added. ‘Typically, you know, he’s not gonna be the head of the local bank.’
Last month, DailyMail.com reported how heavily-tattooed gangsters belonging to the Tren de Aragua crime group are coming across the border and spreading their tentacles across the country.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, former immigration and customs enforcement director for Colorado and Wyoming, John Fabbricatore, said: ‘We’re going to start hearing stories about them getting arrested everywhere.
‘They’re in 17 states now. I wouldn’t be surprised if by February, that’s higher than 25.’
Known as TdA to law enforcement, the gang originated in a Venezuelan prison.
Members of the South American mafia have since crept into the US via the southern border, hidden among the one million Venezuelan migrants who have entered the country under the Biden administration.
Estefania Primera, 36, is the alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua gang that operated out of the Gateway Hotel in Texas. Her street name is La Barbie and she is a heavily-tattooed and pierced illegal migrant
President Trump has condemned lax controls on the southern border for being to blame for violent gangs ‘pouring in’ to the US
Tren de Aragua gang tattoos (pictured above) were part of a Department of Homeland Security bulletin that was recently shared with federal agents
They can often be identified by telltale tattoos, including a train (‘tren’ is Spanish for train), a crown, a clock and an AK-47.
Estefania Primera, 36, is the alleged leader of the gang. Her street name is La Barbie and she is a heavily-tattooed and pierced illegal migrant.
Primera was arrested in El Paso, Texas, on September 27 on suspicion of sex trafficking a woman reportedly at the Gateway Hotel in Downtown El Paso.
Her activities have been compared to gangs like MS-13, and although she was supposed to be monitored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since crossing the border in 2023, she removed her ankle monitor and vanished soon after arriving.
Hours after being sworn in on Monday, Trump declared a national emergency at the border with Mexico, saying ‘America’s sovereignty is under attack’, and he now appears to be making good on his repeated campaign promises to tackle migration.
In one of his first acts in office the president has ordered the deployment of more than 1,500 troops to the southern border, where they are expected to help with the instalment of physical barriers.
An internal government memo, seen by CBS, indicates that he plans to send up to 10,000 service personnel to assist the Customs and Border Protection agency.
The memo also reportedly suggests that US Department of Defense bases could be used as ‘holding facilities’ for migrants waiting to be deported.
Last year, the horrific murder of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley by an undocumented migrant brought the issue of border security into sharp focus.
Last year, the horrific murder of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley by an undocumented migrant brought the issue of border security into sharp focus
Ibarra had arrived in Texas illegally in 2022 and his case sparked renewed debate about the border crisis and illegal immigration. Ibarra has also been confirmed to have ties with the deadly Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang
Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela, was sentenced to life in jail after being convicted of her kidnapping and murder.
Responding to the case in March, the House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, a bill that would require federal detention of illegal immigrants arrested for burglary or theft.
It failed to get through the then-Democrat-controlled Senate and an amended version wasn’t brought to the Senate until January 20 this year, as part of the 119th Congress.
It was finally passed and became the first bill sent for President Trump’s signature in his second term in office.
In June, the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, allegedly by two illegal migrants, also left the nation reeling.
Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was found raped and murdered near her home in Houston, Texas, in June
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, confirmed Franklin Pena, 26, and Johan Martinez-Rangel, 22, could be put to death by lethal injection if a jury finds them guilty in the death of Jocelyn Nungaray.
Pena and Rangel are accused of luring the girl from a Houston convenience store late at night and were allegedly seen walking under a bridge with her where they spent two hours before emerging alone, police said.
Nungaray’s body was found hours later floating in a bayou. The pre-teen had been raped and strangled.
Authorities believe both suspects have ties to TdA.
Another alleged Venezuelan gang member was arrested in Miami, the US Border Patrol announced in December.
‘On 12/6, USBP agents in Miami, FL, arrested a Tren de Aragua gang member, a Venezuelan national with an arrest in 2022 for illegal entry,’ agency chief Jason Owens announced on X.
The agency told DailyMail.com the gangster, 19, was detained in West Palm Beach Florida, not far from the home of President-elect Donald Trump.
‘Custody of the individual was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When individuals are encountered with derogatory information, we deny admission, detain them, or refer them to other federal agencies for removal or further vetting, investigation and/or prosecution as appropriate,’ a Border Patrol spokesman said.
A Venezuelan dissident running for office in Salt Lake City, Utah, has warned that the gangsters have been linked to at least two separate crimes in the state – including an alleged prostitution ring and shooting.
Carlos Moreno told the New York Post: ‘Our law enforcement people are not ready. They are not ready yet to face these kinds of gangs in Utah because the way that they do things are totally different than criminals here in the United States.’
‘That’s why people right now are very afraid,’ he added.
