Aurora
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TREN DE ARAGUA
THE VENEZUELAN TERRORIST-GANG
INFILTRATING THE UNITED STATES
The Tren de Aragua (TdA) is accused of carrying out criminal activities in at least 27 U.S. states, with the most notable in New York, Texas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, and Tennessee.
Major cities impacted include New York City, Aurora, San Antonio, Nashville, Chicago, and El Paso, with NYC experiencing the most TdA-related crimes.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
2023-2024
The Biden Administration arrested approximately 576 Venezuelan nationals tied to the TdA in two years, 2023-2024.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
2025
According to U.S. authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), over 2,711 members or alleged/presumptive associates of Tren de Aragua (TdA) have been detained in the United States 2025 as of November 25, 2025.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
2025
According to ICE Flight Monitor (Human Rights First) and Venezuelan airport authorities, as of November 25, 2025, 73 U.S. deportation flights have landed in Caracas, deporting approximately 13,656 Venezuelans.
VIEW REPORT
TREN DE ARAGUA
THE VENEZUELAN TERRORIST-GANG
INFILTRATING THE UNITED STATES
The Tren de Aragua (TdA) is accused of carrying out criminal activities in at least 27 U.S. states, with the most notable in New York, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Illinois, and Tennessee.
Major cities impacted include New York City, Aurora, San Antonio, Nashville, Chicago, and El Paso, with NYC experiencing the most TdA-related crimes.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
2023-2024
The Biden Administration arrested approximately 576 Venezuelan nationals tied to the TdA in two years, 2023-2024.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION 2025
According to U.S. authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), over 3,500 members or alleged/presumptive associates of Tren de Aragua (TdA) have been detained in the United States 2025 as of November 25, 2025.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
2025
According to ICE Flight Monitor (Human Rights First) and Venezuelan airport authorities, as of November 25, 2025, 73 U.S. deportation flights have landed in Caracas, deporting approximately 13,656 Venezuelans.
chief says it "must be stopped"
The Aurora Police Department is investigating suspected gang activity at an apartment complex that is
reminiscent of last year's Tren de Aragua gang activity at another apartment complex in the Colorado city.
Chance of Laken Riley's illegal immigrant killer doing time in El Salvador prison addressed by lawmakers. Jose Ibarra was sentenced to serve life in prison last November and is currently contesting his conviction in Georgia.
READ MORE
DEPORTEES TO
VENEZUELA
U.S. removals to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act are transferred to the CECOT mega-prison and later returned to Venezuela. On March 15, 2025, the U.S. removed 238 Venezuelan men to El Salvador who were immediately transferred to CECOT.
Reuters reported that on July 18, 2025, 252 Venezuelans arrived back in Venezuela on two airplanes as part of a coordinated exchange.
Multiple outlets reported that the same exchange secured the release of 10 Americans (including U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents) held in Venezuela, the men having been held for more than four months before being repatriated on July 18.
DEPORTEES TO
EL SALVADOR
In 2025, Venezuelan and U.S. officials publicly described an ongoing repatriation pipeline that returned tens of thousands of Venezuelans to Caracas via regular charter operations. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said that 18,354 Venezuelans had returned in 2025 via 95 flights, including 13,656 in 73 flights arriving directly from the United States. These returns included ICE-linked operations using Venezuelan state carrier Conviasa and, later in the year, U.S.-contracted flights (e.g., Eastern Airlines).
Early in the year, Reuters reported that two Conviasa flights were scheduled to Venezuela for February 10, 2025. In a separate February operation, Reuters reported that Venezuelans were transferred at Soto Cano air base in Honduras for logistical handoff before continuing to Caracas on Conviasa, illustrating the Honduras “handoff” mechanism.
Deportation flights also resumed after a standoff in late March: Reuters reported 199 deportees arriving on March 24, 2025, with flights having been routed via Honduras amid strained bilateral relations.
By early December, the program was operating on a twice-weekly cadence.
TOTAL
DEPORTEES:
DEPORTEES TO
VENEZUELA
In 2025, Venezuelan and U.S. officials publicly described an ongoing repatriation pipeline that returned tens of thousands of Venezuelans to Caracas via regular charter operations. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said that 18,354 Venezuelans had returned in 2025 via 95 flights, including 13,656 in 73 flights arriving directly from the United States. These returns included ICE-linked operations using Venezuelan state carrier Conviasa and, later in the year, U.S.-contracted flights (e.g., Eastern Airlines).
Early in the year, Reuters reported that two Conviasa flights were scheduled to Venezuela for February 10, 2025. In a separate February operation, Reuters reported that Venezuelans were transferred at Soto Cano air base in Honduras for logistical handoff before continuing to Caracas on Conviasa, illustrating the Honduras “handoff” mechanism.
Deportation flights also resumed after a standoff in late March: Reuters reported 199 deportees arriving on March 24, 2025, with flights having been routed via Honduras amid strained bilateral relations.
By early December, the program was operating on a twice-weekly cadence.
DEPORTEES TO
EL SALVADOR
U.S. removals to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act are transferred to the CECOT mega-prison and later returned to Venezuela. On March 15, 2025, the U.S. removed 238 Venezuelan men to El Salvador who were immediately transferred to CECOT.
Reuters reported that on July 18, 2025, 252 Venezuelans arrived back in Venezuela on two airplanes as part of a coordinated exchange.
Multiple outlets reported that the same exchange secured the release of 10 Americans (including U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents) held in Venezuela, the men having been held for more than four months before being repatriated on July 18.
WEAPONIZED CHAOS: THE RISE OF TREN DE ARAGUA AS VENEZUELA’S PROXY FORCE, 2014–2025
SPECIAL REPORT
The Center for a Secure Free Society is launching a new report: “Weaponized Chaos: The Rise of Tren de Aragua as Venezuela’s Proxy Force, 2014–2025.” It shows how a Venezuelan prison gang evolved into a transnational proxy threatening security across the Americas.
Tren de Aragua (TdA) coalesced inside the Tocorón penitentiary around 2012, when inmate bosses, pranes, created a governance system sustained by contraband profits, encrypted messaging, and patronage rather than rigid rank.
JOSÉ GUSTAVO AROCHA
SFS Senior Fellow and an MPA from Harvard University (Edward S. Mason Fellow, 2018) Operating under Venezuela’s wider pranato system, which allows pranes to run quasi-sovereign fiefdoms with tacit state approval, these leaders transformed Tocorón into a fortified enclave featuring armories, nightclubs, swimming pools, a small zoo, and a networked command post.
All this infrastructure was financed through la causa, an internal prison “tax”, and supplemented by illegal goldmining profits and migrant-smuggling fees. By 2021, independent monitors estimated TdA’s core manpower at roughly 4,000 members.
WEAPONIZED CHAOS: THE RISE OF TREN DE ARAGUA AS VENEZUELA’S PROXY FORCE, 2014–2025
SPECIAL REPORT
The Center for a Secure Free Society is launching a new report: “Weaponized Chaos: The Rise of Tren de Aragua as Venezuela’s Proxy Force, 2014–2025.” It shows how a Venezuelan prison gang evolved into a transnational proxy threatening security across the Americas.
JOSÉ GUSTAVO AROCHA
SFS Senior Fellow and an MPA from Harvard University (Edward S. Mason Fellow, 2018)
Tren de Aragua (TdA) coalesced inside the Tocorón penitentiary around 2012, when inmate bosses, pranes, created a governance system sustained by contraband profits, encrypted messaging, and patronage rather than rigid rank.
Operating under Venezuela’s wider pranato system, which allows pranes to run quasi-sovereign fiefdoms with tacit state approval, these leaders transformed Tocorón into a fortified enclave featuring armories, nightclubs, swimming pools, a small zoo, and a networked command post.
All this infrastructure was financed through la causa, an internal prison “tax”, and supplemented by illegal goldmining profits and migrant-smuggling fees. By 2021, independent monitors estimated TdA’s core manpower at roughly 4,000 members.
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