What do we really know about Venezuela’s alleged gangs? The US response to the Trump administration’s comments on the Alien Enemies Act
According to The Times, the intelligence community had not reached the same conclusion after circulating findings in February. The shared assessment was that Venezuela’s government and the gang were adversaries, even though some corrupt Venezuelan officials had ties to some gang members. It also said the gang lacked centralized command-and-control and was too disorganized to carry out any instructions.
On its face, the Alien Enemies Act appears to require a link to a foreign government. The US President claimed that the people of Tren de Aragua committed crimes to bring about change in the United States.
Immediately afterward, the administration sent planeloads of Venezuelans to a notorious high-security prison in El Salvador with no due process. Courts have stopped further transfers under the proclamation. The American Civil Liberties Union asked a judge to order the Trump administration to bring back the men who were sent there, citing that some were likely not gang members.
It is outrageous that the media are intent on twisting and manipulating intel assessments to undermine the president’s agenda to make America safe by deporting violent criminals.
According to a new declassified memo, the US doesn’t believe that Venezuela’s president directs a criminal gang in the U.S. President Trump claims that the gang is invading the U.S. and that he has evidence that proves it. The government has relied on this argument to justify the deportation of alleged gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
The New York Times reported that the United States’ intel agencies had “circulated findings” in response to the Trump administration’s claims. At the time, the Justice Department said it was launching a criminal investigation into what it described as a “selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified” intelligence about Tren de Aragua, saying it would not “tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President Trump’s agenda.”
