Legislation from U.S. Rep. Brad Knott (R-NC), co-sponsored by every Republican member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, would address the threat posed to the country by members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.
The legislation, Tren de Aragua Border Security Threat Assessment Act, would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create a threat assessment off Tren de Aragua members, as well as come up with a strategic plan to mitigate those threats. Tren de Aragua has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration which has determined that many of its members have entered the country illegally. The legislation was introduced on Tuesday and passed out of committee on Wednesday.
“As a former federal prosecutor, I worked with law enforcement to fight foreign criminals of every type. This included drug cartels, human traffickers, and gang members who came to our country illegally to enrich themselves through crime,” Knott said. “But their reign of terror is coming to an end. I am proud to lead this legislation to bolster the Trump administration’s efforts to identify and combat threats from this transnational criminal organization and prevent further violence.”
TdA began its operations as a prison gang in the Venezuelan state of Aragua. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended approximately 106 TdA members nationwide from March 2023-May 2025. Officials said TdA members engage in a wide variety of criminal activities including money laundering, drug and human trafficking, kidnapping, organized retail crime, extortion, and murder.
Earlier this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested an alleged TdA member, Ricardo Granadillo-Padilla, who was wanted in connection with a mass shooting event in Chicago.
“The sadistic gang Tren de Aragua was allowed to take advantage of our country under the Biden-Harris administration’s reckless, open-borders policies and mass-parole schemes––committing heinous acts of violence from Denver and Raleigh to Nashville,” Committee Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) said. “No American should have to live in fear of a transnational criminal organization in their communities, and I am grateful the Trump administration has empowered our federal law enforcement to dismantle the operations of TdA on U.S. soil.”