‘Failing at the border’: Sheriffs blame Biden-Harris admin for increase in crimes linked to Tren de Aragua

The American Sheriff Alliance issued a press release Tuesday blaming the Biden-Harris administration for allowing Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang, to enter the United States.

The sheriffs torched the administration, stating that the presence of TDA in the country is the latest example of how its open-border policies have failed.

'Due to the increase in human smuggling, illicit narcotics, and violent criminals coming across all borders, every county in the United States is now a border county.'

The group referenced a recent leaked memo from the Homeland Security Investigations office in Chicago that warned law enforcement officers that TDA members in the U.S. have been given the “green light” from the gang to “fire on or attack” police.

The American Sheriff Alliance also noted that TDA has been “linked to violent crimes across the country,” including a jewelry store armed robbery in Denver, Colorado, that occurred on June 24.

According to an NBC News report released in June, the gang has been linked to more than 100 criminal investigations. In July, the Department of the Treasury sanctioned TDA as a transnational criminal organization.

“TDA participates in human smuggling and trafficking, kidnapping, extortion schemes, and moving illicit narcotics in their areas of operation,” the American Sheriff Alliance’s media release stated. “The total number of TDA members operating in the United States is unknown due to the number of ‘got-a-ways’ entering the country, as well as those who may have been recruited domestically since TDA has showed its presence in the country.”

National Sheriffs’ Association president and Canyon County, Idaho, Sheriff Kieran Donahue, said, “When we allow a brutal and violent gang, like TDA, to operate in the United States, we have failed in terms of border security.”

“TDA is the latest example where failed policies have allowed violent gangs and criminal cartels into our country who subsequently commit heinous acts of violence and cause fear in our communities,” Donahue added.

Former Sheriff Clint McDonald, who now serves as the executive director for the Southwestern Border Sheriff's Coalition and the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition, also blamed the current administration for the increase in gang-related crime.

McDonald stated, “The American Sheriff Alliance issued a call to action in February regarding the fear of violent criminals, cartel members, and those on the Terrorist Screening Database.”

“It is evident with the number of TDA members increasing rapidly in our country that we are failing at the border to ensure bad actors are not entering our country for nefarious reasons,” McDonald continued. “Coming to the United States and threatening to kill American law enforcement is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”

The American Sheriff Alliance declared that it is dedicated to finding a solution to the border crisis.

“Due to the increase in human smuggling, illicit narcotics, and violent criminals coming across all borders, every county in the United States is now a border county, feeling the effects of foreign policy which has not adequately addressed issues with violent gangs and the manufacture and smuggling of fentanyl and other drugs by organized criminal cartels,” the group concluded.

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