President Donald Trump declared on Saturday that the United States is being invaded by the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua and ordered for the deportation of all members of the gang who are residing in the country illegally.
In a proclamation, Trump said Tren de Aragua, which is now a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization and was the target of extensive apartment raids in Colorado by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in early February, is “undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare” against the U.S. at the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his regime.
It also describes Venezuela as giving more of its territory over to violent gangs, including Tren de Aragua, resulting in a “hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion” into the U.S.
Trump then invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to order the deportation of all Venezuelan illegal immigrants 14 years and older who are members of the gang, adding that they are a “danger to the public peace or safety” of the U.S.
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“I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies,” the proclamation states.
The order comes just after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport five Venezuelan migrants with suspected ties to Tren de Aragua. The administration quickly appealed the ruling, with a hearing scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
