Article: https://latinamericanpost.com/americas/venezuelas-tren-de-aragua-expands-its-deadly-grip-to-the-u-s/
A gang birthed from Venezuela’s Tocorón prison, the Tren de Aragua have gone beyond expanding throughout Latin America and now have begun to infiltrate the U.S. Gang members, empowered by the mismanagement of the prisons and general unrest throughout Venezuela, were able to follow migration routes to Colombia, Peru, Chile and Ecuador — causing a demonstrable rise in crime, largely targeted at migrants. Now, the gang is continuing their rapid expansion into Texas, Florida and New York. Already, U.S. officials are struggling to track down and stop gang members. In response to the threat, the U.S. has put sanctions on gang members and has offered a reward for information on the gang’s top leaders.
Since it’s an election year, this issue is of particular importance right now in the U.S — especially when addressing immigration is a significant part of presidential candidate Donald Trump’s platform and is one of the top issues voters are concerned about. And, of course, increased gang activity is considered a net negative for any country, especially a gang that has proven its ability to establish itself very rapidly and violently. Depending on how much of a foothold the Tren de Aragua are able to get in the U.S, anti-immigration sentiments may increase and influence elections and policy.
Part of what makes it difficult for the U.S. to locate these criminals is our lack of diplomatic ties to Venezuela — we don’t have access to much of their criminal data. This, I feel, highlights the need for a collaborative approach if the U.S. or the many Latin American countries affected want to effectively eliminate this issue. Collaboration, however, isn’t necessarily easy with countries that don’t already have established relationships with each other and may have their own reasons for wanting to act independently. Honestly, it’s more likely that we’ll see an increase in limits on immigration and funding towards law enforcement — which, yes, may work to reduce the problem, but I don’t see it solving the problem unless whichever president is elected makes addressing this sort of violent crime a top priority. And even then, I think increased restrictions are going simply to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment and result in a greater amount of harm than necessary.
The Tren de Aragua are a perfect example of the ‘other’ type of global actors. They are an international criminal organization that is affecting policy in various countries that they have networks in. Unlike many other global actors, these groups are big destabilizers and serve no benefit to the country they’re in.