María Elvira Salazar U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 27th district | Official U.S. House Headshot
María Elvira Salazar U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 27th district | Official U.S. House Headshot
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) issued a statement following the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announcement to designate the Tren de Aragua gang as a Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO).
“Over the last year, the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has managed to move their operations north by taking advantage of our porous southern border. My constituents in Miami, many of them Venezuelans themselves, should not have to endure living amongst the same kinds of criminals that forced them to leave their home country," said Salazar.
“I welcome the news that the Biden Administration took my and Senator Rubio’s warning about the threat the vicious Tren de Aragua gang poses to our communities seriously. With the Transnational Criminal Organization designation, the federal government has the tools it needs to hunt down their blood-soaked leaders. Now it’s time to secure our border to make sure they don’t come in anymore,” she added.
Tren de Aragua is implicated in over 100 crimes in the United States, including murders and assaults on police officers. In March 2024, Rep. Salazar joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and several colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging him to designate Tren de Aragua as a TCO.
The official announcement from the Department of Treasury sanctioning this group can be found here.
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