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More than 600 migrants in the US may be connected to the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TDA). This is the same group that reportedly took over an apartment complex in Colorado. The data was obtained exclusively by NBC News and shines a spotlight on the growing concern with border control and how illegal immigrants are – or aren’t – vetted.
The Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 600 migrants who may be connected to TDA. DHS started gathering data on the gang during the spring after noticing a spike in crime across the nation which included sex trafficking in Louisiana and the shooting of two New York City police officers. ICE has arrested more than 100 people suspected of ties with TDA with crimes committed in October 2022, according to the data NBC News collected. Furthermore, 75 have been arrested for immigration violations while more than 20 have been referred for federal prosecution, the outlet detailed.
The number of suspected TDA migrants is likely very low since Venezuela doesn’t share criminal history or other information with the US, making it difficult for border agents to detect gang members. “The number is almost disturbingly low,” Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence and an NBC News contributor, said. “It should be higher.”
Ammon Blair, a former border patrol agent who is now a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and an advocate for stronger border security, said when he retired in November that the agency was not vetting the migrants heavily enough as they crossed the border:
“When you look at the process, unfortunately, they’re just steamrolled through. The Border Patrol has created a conveyor belt, an automated system to process them and release them a fast as possible into the United States. We are not asking questions.”
Chinese Immigrant With Rare Strain of Tuberculosis
The state of Louisiana is suing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ICE, and other agencies after an illegal Chinese immigrant may have exposed hundreds of people to a rare form of tuberculosis that is resistant to drugs.
On Wednesday, October 23, Gov. Jeff Landry and State Attorney General Liz Murrill said the migrant was moved by ICE through various facilities in the state, potentially exposing at least 200 other detainees and staff members. According to the lawsuit, the strain of tuberculosis is rare and aggressive and has a high mortality rate.
The unnamed immigrant entered the country illegally in California in July. The person was then flown with 100 other migrants to Alexandria, LA, and then bussed to another facility with even more undocumented. Even though the Chinese person had symptoms of TB, they were released in August into the general population at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, according to the lawsuit.
Landry noted that this is the type of thing he warned would happen with an “open porous border” that basically allows migrants to come into the country unchecked. “We are consistently seeing… additional cases of measles, mumps, and now we have a rare form of tuberculosis,” he said. “This is the type of crisis that occurs when we let people come into the country unchecked.”
Murril blamed the Joe Biden administration for putting Americans in danger:
“The protection of our southern border is paramount to the security of the United States. It is neither political nor unreasonable that Louisiana has time and time again demanded that the Biden-Harris administration defend this nation. Those not legally present should not be in the country – period. Millions of undocumented illegal aliens continue to pour across the southern border – unidentified, untracked, and untested for diseases that can threaten the lives of American citizens.”
In the Polls
An exclusive Newsweek poll revealed that a majority of presidential candidate Kamala Harris voters agree with former President Donald Trump’s majority of voters – there needs to be a harder stance on immigration policy. In the October poll, those who plan to vote for Trump backed a hardline approach by 87%. Not surprising. But of those planning to check Harris’ box, 53% are also in favor of stricter policies.
What will next week bring us in Open Borders America?
