They call it "El tren de Aragua" or literally the train of Aragua, a region of Venezuela. And they've turned into a multinational crime organization. You may have heard about them in the stories of apartments in Aurora or New York City. There are also allegations of killing people and fentanyl distribution. In other words, they’ve gotten around.

Enter Texas. On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott made an announcement in Texas:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced the state is going to target a Venezuelan gang that he said was notorious for brutal violence and murder and posed a threat to Texans’ safety.

At a press conference in Houston, Abbott signed a proclamation that declares the Tren de Aragua gang a foreign terrorist organization, and directed the Department of Public Safety to create new strike teams of highway patrol officers, SWAT teams, helicopters, canines and Texas Rangers to target areas with known TDA activity.

“We will bring the full weight of the government against the TDA by declaring TDA a foreign terrorist organization,” Abbott said before signing the proclamation. “Texas will use the courts to halt their operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take their property, use enhanced criminal penalties to keep them in jail, behind bars for longer periods of time.”

The governor singled out El Paso as a hotbed for recent criminal activity by suspected members of Tren de Aragua. He said residents there had recently been concerned about criminal activity in a local hotel where 20 suspected Venezuelan gang members were arrested.

Well done, Governor. Good to see that someone is taking the matter of crime seriously in the country.

I'm curious if the Biden DoJ will challenge Texas' authority to jump into international crime. My guess is that Texas would win in the Supreme Court, but who knows when that happens.

The larger point is that this organization has literally walked into the country thanks to open border. "Tren" has also benefitted from operating in Democrat jurisdictions where they have not met anything like what Governor Abbott will unleash in Texas.

Last, but not least, we are watching Governor Abbott lead, a rare talent these days in the political class.

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Image: Gage Skidmore