Trump's Mass Deportations Will Destroy Tren De Aragua: Ex-ICE Director

President-elect Donald Trump's controversial mass deportation policy could bring down the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua (TdA), a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director has said.

The crime syndicate has been thrust into the national spotlight after footage emerged of armed gang members storming an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. The gang has been linked to a series of high-profile crimes, including murder, sexual assault, and sex trafficking in the U.S.

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokesperson, previously told Newsweek: "President Trump will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history."

Ronald Vitiello, who served as acting director of ICE from June 2018 to April 2019, told Newsweek that under Trump's proposed plans the gang could be "dismantled quickly."

"In the case of Tren de Aragua, they can be dismantled quickly and definitively because their presence in the United States, although dangerous, has just begun," he said.

He continued: "They are particularly vulnerable to removal and deportation, and so the United States could end their lawlessness as quickly as it began."

Vitiello, who previously served as the acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has more than 30 years of experience working in law enforcement.

The former acting ICE director said the gang had committed "heinous" acts on U.S. soil. TdA has been linked to a string of high-profile crimes, including the murders of nursing student Laken Riley, 22, and Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, as well as taking over a hotel in El Paso.

"We've seen deadly examples where illegals who have committed crimes and then went on to do terrible things, as in the case of Laken Reilly near Atlanta, who was killed by an individual from Venezuela who was here illegally and was arrested," Vitiello said.

CBP data shows no TdA members were arrested at the southern border before 2023.

Border Patrol reported apprehending 41 known TdA gang members in the financial year 2023 and 23 in the financial year 2024, saying that this indicated the group was gaining traction within the criminal landscape.

TdA, a transnational criminal organization formed in a Venezuelan prison, focuses on human trafficking and other abuses targeting vulnerable migrants.

According to a Telemundo report, the gang is believed to have about 5,000 members and makes annual profits of between $10 and $15 million.

The gang is accused of smuggling women and girls for sexual exploitation.

A suspected sex trafficking ringleader, identified as La Barbie, who is believed to have connections to the Venezuelan gang, was apprehended in El Paso, Texas, in October.

Estefania Primera, an undocumented migrant from Venezuela, is accused of drugging a woman and bringing in men to gang-rape her while she was unconscious, according to the New York Post.

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has pushed to label Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization, increasing criminal penalties for suspected members and offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to their arrest.

Abbott's press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said: "Tren de Aragua has a target on their back" following the murder of Houston girl Nungaray.

Nungaray was killed in June, and officials announced the suspects were in the U.S. unlawfully. It later emerged the pair were known members of TdA.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups have expressed humanitarian concerns over the impact of mass deportations on undocumented migrants.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian aid organization Kino Border Initiative told Newsweek: "We are concerned about the impacts of mass deportations of people who have lived years and decades in the US, the legitimation of intimidation and fear as justified forms of order, the detonation of hate crimes against certain communities and groups."

Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who represents California's 18th district, previously told Newsweek that Trump's flagship policy would "rip the dad" out of households.

"Trump is proposing to go in and rip the dad out of that household and leave the mom and kids on their own. That's something all Americans should be concerned about," Lofgren said.

After promising mass deportations of illegal immigrants, Trump has also vowed to go after those admitted into the United States under programs established to protect migrants from certain countries.

Before he won his second term the president-elect said he would force the million-plus people who arrived under Humanitarian Parole or were allowed to stay in the U.S. through Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to leave.

"Get ready to leave because you're going to be going out real fast," he told Fox News in September.