Every Republican member of the House Committee on Homeland Security is a cosponsor of the legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– This week, House Committee on Homeland Security member Rep. Brad Knott (R-NC) introduced the “Tren De Aragua Border Security Threat Assessment Act,” which would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create a threat assessment regarding criminal threats posed by members of Tren De Aragua (TdA). TdA, a violent transnational gang with roots in Venezuela, has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration, and many of its members illegally entered the United  States under the Biden-Harris administration. This legislation would also require DHS to create a strategic plan to mitigate threats identified in the threat assessment. The legislation will be included in a Committee markup tomorrow. 
 
In February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a member of the gang in Raleigh, North Carolina, who was paroled into the country under the Biden-Harris administration after crossing the border illegally. Ricardo Granadillo-Padilla was already wanted in connection with a mass shooting in Chicago.

Read more in Newsweek via Billal Rahman.

“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,” Rep. Knott said. “I saw firsthand how the previous administration’s efforts to fully open our borders empowered these criminals to wreak havoc on our country. The Biden-Harris administration endangered all Americans by opening the door for members of the gang and designated terrorist group Tren de Aragua to overrun our country––from North Carolina and Tennessee to Colorado. 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.”
 
“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,” 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. I commend Rep. Knott for leading legislation that will ensure DHS has the right intelligence and preparation to keep accomplishing this mission and protect our communities.”
 
Cosponsors of Rep. Knott’s legislation include every majority Committee member: Chairman Green, Vice Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS), Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX), Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology Chairman Dale Strong (R-AL), Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-SC), Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO), and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA).

Background:

Transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua, the largest criminal organization in Venezuela, rapidly expanded their presence and operations in the United States under the Biden-Harris administration. 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.

TdA members engage in “diverse criminal activities,” including money laundering, drug and human trafficking, kidnapping, organized retail crime, extortion, and murder. According to one report, Tren de Aragua, called “MS-13 on steroids” by one federal official, has taken “advantage of the ongoing border crisis and has been able to push members into the United States and beef up its presence in cities nationwide where law enforcement and elected officials are gravely concerned about the type of violence they are seeing…” Further, members “conceal themselves amongst the general population of Venezuelan immigrants” seeking to enter the United States illegally.

From Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 to date, more than 953,000 Venezuelans have been encountered by CBP nationwide, including more than 120,000 Venezuelans who were flown into the United States under the administration’s illegal Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) parole program. We do not know how many TdA members were within the group of CHNV parolees now here in the United States. 

Last year, TdA infamously ran rampant over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, threatening residents and the owner in a case that gained national attention. The Committee believes that many TdA-affiliated aliens exploited the Biden-Harris administration’s open-borders policies and illegal parole programs to enter the United States, and that further action is needed to combat the threats posed by TdA.

Last June, law enforcement agencies revealed they had “launched more than 100 investigations of crimes tied to suspected members” of the gang. An internal DHS bulletin last year warned agents that more 1,000 members of the gang had infiltrated the United States at the time, and that they had been given the “green light” to target members of law enforcement.

###