A declassified U.S. intelligence memo obtained by The New York Times contradicts a claim by President Donald Trump that the government of Venezuela controls the Tren de Aragua gang.
In March, Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador, where they are being incarcerated without due process. The act has been invoked just three times: the War of 1812 and both world wars. During WWII, the legislation was used to intern people of Japanese, Italian, and German descent.
The Trump administration – save for the intelligence community – maintains that Tren de Aragua is controlled by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“While Venezuela’s permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the Times reported the memo as saying. The Times also reported in March that intelligence agencies were at odds with Trump’s official position on Tren de Aragua, but the newly declassified memo shows the extent to which those
The Trump administration has made the deportation of undocumented immigrants a priority, if not a spectacle. In March, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem traveled to El Salvador to tour the prison where the aforementioned deportees are being held.
“Do not come to our country illegally,” Noem said in a video with shirtless prisoners in the background. “You will be removed and you will be prosecuted. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.”