ICE Is Using Pure Bullshit To Turn People Into Venezuelan Gang Members To Keep Hitting Its Daily Arrest Quota
from the banal-stupidity-of-evil dept
Donald Trump has decided he can’t do immigration enforcement without doing war crimes. That’s where we’re at now as a country: under the thumb of someone exercising executive war powers to remove anyone looking faintly Mexican from the country under the extremely dubious theory that the people rounded up by ICE are all members of foreign gangs.
Of course, it’s not limited to warriors or wars. The Trump Administration is now just disappearing people for exercising their First Amendment rights. But, in this case, the outlandish claim is that everyone who was arrested and flown (in violation of a federal injunction!) to El Salvador to rot in that country’s prisons is a member of gangs like MS-13 and… um… Tren de Aragua.
Oh wait. You haven’t heard of Tren de Aragua, a.k.a. TdA? Don’t blame your service provider and/or your social media feeds. The gang Trump (sort of) declared “war” on is something new. It’s not MS-13. Apparently, it’s the new “most dangerous thing ever,” even if there’s nothing that demonstrates TdA is making the sort of inroads into America that MS-13 has.
But Trump has always been able to round up rubes to help with the duping. That’s where New York City mayor Eric Adams — a recent recipient of Trump largesse — comes into play, as Max Rivlin-Nadler reports for Hell Gate.
The Trump administration has invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport more than 200 Venezuelans to a massive prison in El Salvador without any due process. How has the president justified using a 227-year-old law that has only been wielded during actual wars to override the Constitution? He claims these men are members of the gang “Tren de Aragua.”
[…]
[T]he NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams […] spent much of 2024 pushing a narrative that New York, which is home to thousands of recently-arrived Venezuelan migrants, is somehow being inundated with members of a small, relatively new regional gang that is named for the Tocorón prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua.
[…]
“We believe they are participating in illegal behavior, and they’re the source of some of the increases in robberies and pattern robberies, particularly on scooters. And we continue to monitor the situation, but it is alarming,” Adams said. He added that Tren de Aragua was “a very dangerous gang,” and that he had sent his NYPD deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism to Colombia to gather information.
Scooter robberies? Vague “illegal behavior?” Well, no wonder Trump deployed his war powers to rid this country of a threat incapable of being coherently defined by the NYC mayor in the president’s back pocket.
Supposedly the easiest way to identify members of a gang no one had really ever heard of before Trump started sending planeloads of non-white people to prisons in El Salvador is by their tattoos. After all, MS-13 is notorious for its inking and its members’ inability to blend into any society that isn’t currently bathing itself in bathtub meth money.
In fact, ICE has its own guide [PDF] for identifying TdA members by their tattoos. But as American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick pointed out on Bluesky, the guidelines are somewhat even worse and more lax than the bullshit regular cops use to place people in (domestic) gang databases.
This nomination system uses points. Eight points is all it takes to get you labeled as someone fast-tracked for an indefinite prison sentence in a nation you weren’t even born in. A lot of this relies on tattoos. Four points for gang tattoos. Four points for any tattoo an ICE officer believes is a gang tattoo. Six points for texting anyone ICE thinks is a TdA member and 3 points for sending funds (via Cash app or other services) to anyone whose tattoos are presumed to be TdA-related.
Even if someone fails to hit the 8-point threshold for immediate expulsion to El Salvador (and, remember, we’re dealing with alleged Venezuelan gang members here), points can be added by any ICE officer or supervisor willing to put their thumb on the scale.
Aliens scoring 6 or 7 points may be validated as members of TDA; you should consult with a supervisor and OPLA, reviewing the totality of the facts, before making that determination; if you determine an alien should not be validated at this time as a member of TDA, when available, you should initiate removal proceedings under the INA.
This ICE guidance — obtained by the ACLU — relies heavily on identifying TdA members by their tattoos. But there’s a massive logical flaw here: unlike MS-13, TdA doesn’t treat tattoos as a basis for entry or a sign of loyalty. ICE already knows this. So does the DHS.
[I]nternal U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FBI documents obtained by USA TODAY reveal federal authorities for years have questioned the effectiveness of using tattoos to identify members of Tren de Aragua, also known as TdA.
“Gang Unit collections determined that the Chicago Bulls attire, clocks, and rose tattoos are typically related to the Venezuelan culture and not a definite (indicator) of being a member or associate of the (TdA),” reads a 2023 “Situational Awareness” bulletin on the criminal gang written by the U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s El Paso Sector Intelligence Unit.
In another DHS document, titled “ICE Intel Leads,” a former Venezuelan police official interviewed by authorities said tattoos are “the easiest but least effective way” of identifying members of the criminal gang.
Everyone who hasn’t been completely corrupted by their association with Trump knows the accepted method of identifying gang members doesn’t actually work. Everyone in the inner circle doesn’t care. And ICE has never given a shit one way or the other, so long as it’s able to hit the ever-escalating expulsion benchmarks set by the administration and backed by barely-sentient FEDZ® doll Kristi Noem, who decided to issue a “tough on crime” statement in front of an overcrowded El Salvadoran prison cell while prominently displaying her $50,000 Rolex watch.
Between the bizarre invocation of the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since the abuse of Japanese US residents during World War II made it unfashionable and ICE’s enthusiasm for rounding up any foreigners officers come across, it’s no surprise areas where Latin Americans are a majority of the population are considered target-rich environments.
What is surprising, however, is that some local law enforcement agencies are viewing ICE as the enemy and the people they serve as people worth protecting from federal government overreach.
In Santa Fe County, N.M., last month, local police leaders stood before a packed auditorium and showed photos of their uniforms so residents would know what they look like — and, more pointedly, what ICE does not.
“Whatever happens around the country, whoever is president, you are our community. We are your officers,” Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joye said with the help of a Spanish interpreter. “It is a fundamental human right that you feel safe in your home regardless of where you’re from.”
[…]
Many police chiefs have opted to risk the ire of the federal government in an attempt to preserve trust with immigrant communities – a bond that can be tenuous even in the best of times.
In Boston, when police commissioner Michael Cox pointed out last month that his agency doesn’t have the authority to enforce immigration law, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said he’d “bring hell” to the city. On March 24, ICE arrested more than 300 people in Massachusetts.
It’s nice to know that at least a few cops aren’t on board with Trump’s anti-immigrant warfare. There’s still no unified front pushing back against ICE but every little bit helps. Unfortunately, none of this will matter to the Trump administration. It’s incapable of being shamed and it’s fine with massive amounts of collateral damage as long as its intended targets are included in the body count.
Filed Under: dhs, donald trump, due process, gang databases, ice, immigration, kristi noem, tattoos, tren de aragua
Comments on “ICE Is Using Pure Bullshit To Turn People Into Venezuelan Gang Members To Keep Hitting Its Daily Arrest Quota”
Well, it’s a very well established truth that stealing scooters leads inexorably to producing meth.
Am I right, Koby?
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Gang Apologist
Actually, we DID hear about it. TdA made headlines back in August when they took over a few apartment buildings in Aurora, CO and began extorting residents. The mayors of both Denver and Aurora tried to downplay the severity of the situation, until front door cameras captured footage of the gang as they brandished rifles and forced their way into a nearby apartment door to shake down the resident.
So it’s not new, it’s not just MS-13, and we’ve seen the problem spread to “sanctuary cities”. The citizens are unwilling to allow the problem to metastasize further.
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Re:
I hope your friends get raped to death in a foreign prison
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That’s a great reason to send random people who aren’t gang members to an El Salvador terrorist prison. You black-souled fucking garbage posing as a human being.
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You should sign up to house some and take care of them. How come you aren’t picketing right now for their release? Maybe you can have these guys babysit your kids and watch your parents?? No? Not feeling it that much? Then shut the fuck up
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We get it, you don’t respect the rights of other people if you don’t think they qualify as “people”. How about you shut the fuck up instead.
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I did, but Trump deported them just a few months later. Better they’re in my home than a roach-filled apartment building run by a slum landlord.
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Ah yes, the moral and logically valid argument of “if you can’t perfectly resolve the issue yourself, then you’re not allowed to criticize our government for violating human rights.” You are definitely arguing from a sincere and authentic position!
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You should go to an El Salvador torture pit.
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Abrego Garcia is not a member of Tda. Y’all are just snatching up whoever you want, throwing them in a hole, and pretending they’re gang members.
You’re all just liars.
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Sounds brown. That’s guilty enough for Koby.
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You’re mixing TdA up with the police. Common mistake.
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And tell me, how many of the people rounded up by ICE in the past couple of months were proven in a court of law by due process to be TdA members, hmm? Is that girl who was kidnapped by masked thugs claiming to be federal agents—regardless of whether they were agents—one of them? What about the immigrant with the autism awareness tattoo?
Or is ICE snatching people off the streets with bullshit accusations and denying them due process so ICE can meet quotas set by the white supremacists in the executive branch of the federal government, including Donald Trump himself?
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My sister lives in Aurora. Your narrative is bullshit. Try again. Or better, just fuck off.
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I remember a bunch of MAGA dipshits occupying a national building, wearing various forms of identical clothing, many having matching tattoos, sporting similar equipment, all while chanting slogans. So based on that we can deport anyone a MAGA (5 points) hat and has a flag on their truck (20) points. Because they’re over a threshold of 1 point.
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Bundy clan should have been summarily executed TBH.
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Smearing innocent people as gang members to justify sending them to a South American hell hole. You’re an even bigger piece of shit than I ever thought.
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How do you feel about the article titled?
But His Gmail: National Security Advisor Waltz’s Private Email Hypocrisy
Please tell us, in detail how this is ok but Hillary’s using a private server isn’t.
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I seem to recall this being a BS excuse by the building manager to explain why they hadn’t been doing basic levels of maintenance on the property. At minimum the “takeover” was greatly overstated.
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Kind of interesting seeing you “stretching” the truth here, there wasn’t “a few apartment buildings” taken over, is was one building were they terrorized the tenants.
You bringing this up is your desperate attempt at deflecting from the actual problem, due process. But I guess you don’t give a damn about the constitution, do you? For you, the constitution is just an inconvenient piece of paper you use to wipe your ass with.
Here’s there relevant texts, you fucking anti-American piece of shit:
Fifth Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Fourteenth Amendment – Section 1
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
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“The mayors of both Denver and Aurora tried to downplay the severity of the situation, until front door cameras captured footage of the gang as they brandished rifles and forced their way into a nearby apartment door to shake down the resident.”
I thought you liked cops though…
Re: Genocide Apologist
This right here, Koby, is your moment. This is you justifying genocide. This is the loss of your plausible deniability. You can’t say, “I didn’t know.” You own this. You voted for this. You bragged about this. You provided cover for this.
If you’ve ever thought you were a decent person, this should be a sobering moment for you, if only you were self-aware enough to recognize it.
This isn’t politics or calling people you disagree with bad names. This isn’t hyperbole. This isn’t scoring points for an argument. This is the real world where real people get abused, exploited, neglected, and murdered. And you’re defending it.
When it's all said and done...
After we dismantle the Trump admin, and all of the dust settles, ICE MUST be permanently dismantled and ALL held accountable to REAL justice!
Well, while were deporting gang members, there’s always the LA PD.
Who are the real criminals?
Turns out this story of gangs in Aurora Co has quite a bit in common with the story about “illegals” being responsible for throwing out veterans in New York City housing, or more recently, about the Haitians in Ohio “Eating the dogs, eating the cats!”
It isn’t true.
However, I doubt it will slow the calls of the right to deport and remove more and more, even full naturally born citizens, in pursuit of their goals. I have heard about the 3,000 or so in the past 15 years removed even though they are full citizens, born in the USA, with birth certificates, and removed sans any real due process and actively being refused repatriation.
From one source:
“Residents at an Aurora apartment complex on Tuesday disputed the viral claims of an armed gang takeover that thrust their building into the national spotlight last week, seeking to redirect attention to a “slumlord” owner who has let their buildings and several others across the city fall into disrepair.
“I have bedbugs in my apartment, I have cockroaches, I have rats. My kids are all covered in bites,” Juan Carlos Alvarado Jimenez, a Venezuelan immigrant living in The Edge at Lowry apartments in northwest Aurora, said through a translator. “I don’t see any criminals here. I think we all know who the real criminals here are.” Co Newsline, Chase Woodruff – September 4, 2024 9:36 am
If our nation can be under an existential threat by people without access to nuclear, chemical, or biological WMD, who are (for the large majority) simply trying to provide a better life for their children, I do not have much regard for our leaders ability to govern. One thing comes to mind: The entire question of who belongs and who doesn’t is the biggest and most persistent moral panic in the history of the USA. And there does not seem to be a scintilla of reasonable, pervasive concern.
Either that or Trump invented it. Seriously. I inputted “Tren de Aragua” into a Spanish to English translator and the output was “Tren de Aragua”, indicating it was made up by somebody who doesn’t understand Spanish.
Re:
Tren is train, Aragua is a state in Venezuela. Largest city is Maracuy by the Lago de Valencia lake in the North central part of the country.
Aragua (state) train. Wikipedia has a list of routes under “State Railways Institution”. I don’t know what tie this has to the criminal gang though.
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In Portuguese, which they speak in Brazil, but not Venezuela. In Venezuela the official language is Spanish. How many clues do you need before you get it?
Belonging to a gang
I used to belong to a gang where tattoos played a big part of ID the crew, The US Navy!