(NewsNation) — The Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has spread to 16 U.S. states, according to a New York Post report citing an internal Department of Homeland Security memo.
The gang has reportedly established a presence in Virginia, Montana, Wyoming, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
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The New York Post cited internal communication from the Department of Homeland Security and shared a partial image of a memo in its reporting. NewsNation has not reviewed the memo or independently verified the report.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to NewsNation’s request for comment.
Earlier this week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., issued a statement warning that the gang was operating in Tennessee. Green blamed President Joe Biden’s administration, saying it “intentionally threw our borders wide open” and “gutted interior enforcement.”
“Tennesseans — and our entire country — shouldn’t be forced to live in fear of heinous gangs because of this administration’s inability to secure our borders,” Green said.
The gang started in a prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua nearly a decade ago. It’s since expanded into what the Justice Department calls a “transnational criminal organization.”
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the group in July, freezing assets and blocking transactions in the U.S.
Several high-profile cases, including the death of 12-year-old Texas girl Jocelyn Nungaray, have fueled speculation about alleged migrant gang crimes.
As for confirmed instances of TdA crimes in the U.S., some local leaders say the issue has been blown out of proportion.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman refuted Trump’s comments about the city being a “war zone.”
“The reality is that the concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been grossly exaggerated,” Coffman wrote in an Oct. 8 Facebook post. “The incidents were limited to several apartment complexes in this city of more than 400,000 residents.”
Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis also pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric. In a statement to NewsNation local affiliate KDVR, he called Aurora an “incredible city with two straight years of rapidly declining crime.”
Aurora police have acknowledged that “components of Tren de Aragua” are operating in the area and have identified at least 10 known members.
Multiple studies analyzing crime data have shown that immigrants commit crimes at a much lower rate than U.S. citizens. That’s true for both violent and nonviolent crimes.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman refuted President-elect Donald Trump’s comments about the city being a “war zone.”
“The reality is that the concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been grossly exaggerated,” Coffman wrote in an Oct. 8 Facebook post. “The incidents were limited to several apartment complexes in this city of more than 400,000 residents.”
Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis also pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric. In a statement to NewsNation local affiliate KDVR, he called Aurora an “incredible city with two straight years of rapidly declining crime.”
Aurora police have acknowledged that “components of Tren de Aragua” are operating in the area and have identified at least 10 known members.