Texas targets violent gang brought to US under Biden’s border policies: ‘We will find them’

Texas is taking matters into its own hands to crack down on members of Tren de Aragua, a dangerous Venezuelan gang operating in the U.S. after the Biden administration allowed large numbers of migrants into the country.

““Texas needs to start from scratch and build a database of the background of all of these people crossing our border from Venezuela,” Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott told “America’s Newsroom” on Tuesday.

“We look at tattoos. We look at other factors, either on their body or in their modus operandi, to help us identify a database of these TdA members. That allows us to better track them and arrest them.”

MEXICAN GOVERNMENT BUSTS MIGRANTS TO US BORDER AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION ISSUE

Tren de Aragua is a violent Venezuelan gang that is causing chaos in several states in the United States. (Fox News/Border Patrol)

It is believed that the gang originated in Venezuelan prisons and moved north over the past decade. But its reputation within the U.S. has grown this year, in part because of a number of high-profile crimes linked to the gang, many of which are believed to have come through the southern border as part of a surge in migration in recent years.

Abbott will declare the gang a foreign terrorist organization and he condemned the Biden administration for “allowing large numbers of Venezuelans into the United States.”

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released the latest statistics Monday showing that nearly 530,000 migrants have been flown to the U.S. and placed on probation in the country as part of the Biden administration’s controversial mass release program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV).

“We will bring the full weight of the government to bear against the TdA,” Abbott said Monday. “By declaring the TdA a foreign terrorist organization, Texas will use the courts to shut down their activities, use civil asset forfeiture to seize their property, and use harsher criminal penalties to keep them in prison for longer periods of time.”

Abbott’s statement gives the state the means to take more aggressive action against the gang.

“We have nine anti-gang units throughout the state of Texas,” he said Tuesday. “They operate at the federal, state and local levels, working together against gangs. What I did yesterday was elevate TdA to the number one gang that our anti-gang partners will be fighting against.”

““We’re looking for them. We’re going to find them. We’re going to put them behind bars to make sure that Texas is hostile territory for this treacherous gang,” he continued. “We’ve got to stop them in their tracks in the United States of America.”

The governor added that he recently signed legislation that directly targets the activities in which TdA is involved.

“If we get our hands on them, they will get a minimum of 10 years in prison,” he said.

Border officials recently told Fox that they are targeting the gang as a priority, and officials in Dallas said they have seen gang activity in northern Dallas that is linked to TdA. The gang has been in the news amid reports of a takeover of apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado.

Fox News Digital reported in July that TdA members had a “green light” to shoot or attack law enforcement in Denver. The Biden administration in July designated the group a “major transnational criminal organization” and offered up to $12 million for information leading to the arrest of three of its leaders.

According to a recent report by the DHS inspector general, ICE does not have enough staff to track and remove the additional population authorized under the Biden administration’s programs, and no agency has monitored the expiration of parolees.

Abbott noted that more than 100 gang members were arrested during a riot at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso earlier this year. On Tuesday, he said strike teams were being formed to deliver resources to areas where gang members are believed to be operating.

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Fox News’ Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.