Aurora Police have confirmed that several members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) were involved in an "incredibly violent" armed home invasion and kidnapping that left two victims seriously injured in an apartment complex this week. 

"I will say without question, in my opinion, that this is TdA activity. Some of these individuals have been identified as TdA gang members," Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said. "It's something that we are working very close with our partners in HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and DHS [Homeland Security] to establish their relationship with gangs."

Chamberlain said authorities have little way of confirming that a suspect is a member of TdA since gang members do not typically broadcast their affiliation. 

"It is a real challenge to try to say, ‘Hey, 100%, you are a gang member,’" he said.

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Chamberlain said it was not a "big step" for him to identify them as members of the notorious Venezuelan gang.

"But when you look at the circumstances of this, when you look at the events of this, when you look at the individuals involved in this, when you look at the veracity and the violence involved in this, again, it is not a big step for me to say that they are TdA gang members," he said.

The gang members allegedly forced their way into a couple’s apartment at the Edge at Lowry Apartments in the Denver suburbs and bound, beat, stabbed and kidnapped the victims, leaving them hospitalized. The perpetrators also allegedly stole jewelry from the victims.

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While the department cannot yet confirm whether all 19 of the suspects detained in the incident are TdA members, Chamberlain said he could categorically confirm that several are part of the gang that has been terrorizing Aurora residents in recent months. 

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Chamberlain said one of the detained TdA members was also involved in the violent apartment takeover in Aurora earlier this year. 

According to Chamberlain, this was not an isolated incident. He said the TdA members and their affiliates have regularly mistreated the couple and were extorting them for $500 every two weeks. He believes the couple were not the only victims being intimidated and extorted by the gang members. 

Chamberlain also said Aurora Police are fully cooperating with ICE, DHS and Homeland Security Investigations to determine the identities and potential gang affiliation of those involved in the incident. 

A total of 19 suspects were detained for questioning, three of whom have since been released and eight of whom are now in ICE custody. He said eight are still under investigation. 

"Those pending charges range from everything from second-degree kidnaping, aggravated robbery, first-degree assault, extortion and burglary," he said.

Police have not released the names of the 16 arrested individuals.

The police chief reiterated that authorities did not conduct a "mass sweep" for the suspects, but instead went door to door to thoroughly investigate all parties involved.

During a press conference, Chamberlain emphasized that Aurora Police would respond to calls and help any victim in trouble "regardless of immigration status."

EXCLUSIVE: Baltimore ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officials on Thursday arrested eight migrants, including four convicted of child molestation and one murderer, in suburban Maryland. 

The arrests happened during an exclusive Fox News ride-along with the government agency. 

One of the migrants apprehended was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor and exposing himself in public several times. Another migrant, from the Philippines, was previously convicted of molesting a 10-year-old girl.

According to ICE, the one migrant convicted of murder was living in the U.S. on a permanent visa status.

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"The people we are out for are the worst of the worst," Baltimore field office Director Matthew Elliston told Fox News' David Spunt. "It's not the average person who is in the country illegally. If we are targeting you, there is a reason."

The goal is simple for the Baltimore ICE Field Office: arrest and then deport as many illegal migrants with criminal records as possible. ICE agents’ goal at the start of the day was to capture eight targets, and all eight targets are now in custody.

Now all eight of those migrants are behind bars and await hearings in front of immigration judges and potential deportation.

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According to ICE data obtained by the House Homeland Security Committee in September, there are at least 650,000 criminal illegal immigrants on the agency’s "non-detained docket," meaning they are free in the U.S. interior. Of those, 14,944 are murderers and over 20,000 have been convicted of sexual assault.

Although not officially a sanctuary state, Maryland, which is led by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and a majority Democratic state assembly, is considered immigrant friendly. The city of Baltimore, meanwhile, has an official policy that does not allow law enforcement to ask residents about their immigration status.

ICE data indicates that Baltimore ERO arrested 570 migrants with either a criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge in fiscal year 2024.

Police in Aurora, Colorado, have detained five more migrants in an armed home invasion and kidnapping that occurred early Tuesday morning.

This brings to 19 the number of migrants detained in the incident, which involved two victims being beaten, bound and kidnapped in a Denver suburb

A spokesperson for ICE told Fox News Digital 16 of those in custody have been identified as Venezuelan nationals in the U.S. without authorization and "are suspected of being members or associates of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua."

Tren de Aragua, or TdA, is a violent international criminal group that has been terrorizing Aurora residents for over a year.

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The ICE official said the 16 suspects "will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings or hearings before an immigration judge."

Aurora Police Department Chief Todd Chamberlain said Tuesday the home invasion was "without question a gang incident."

However, Joe Moylan, a representative for the Aurora Police Department, told Fox News Digital police are still working to identify the suspects and have not yet been able to officially confirm whether the incident was gang-related.

Police were called to an Aurora housing complex, The Edge at Lowry Apartments, just before 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in response to a reported armed home invasion in which victims were assaulted and taken to another apartment in the same complex.

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One of the victims, a man, sustained a stab wound but is expected to survive. Both victims are still at a hospital for treatment. 

Moylan said Aurora police served an additional warrant at the apartment complex late Tuesday afternoon, resulting in their taking in the five additional migrants for questioning. He said police are working in conjunction with federal authorities, including Homeland Security Investigators who are helping to identify everyone involved.

Moylan said the Aurora police chief will likely address the incident further in another press conference once more details are confirmed.

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Roger Hudson, a city council member in nearby Castle Pines, Colorado, who has had contact with the apartment owner, told Fox News Digital most people in the area believe Tren de Aragua is behind the incident. In recent months, the gang has only become "more powerful, more dangerous and more desperate," he said. 

Hudson bashed the sanctuary policies passed by Colorado and the City of Denver, which he said have made it more difficult for state and local law enforcement to protect Coloradans from the likes of TdA.

"These policies make all of our communities less safe," he said. "This is lawlessness in the West, and you can't have that. That's not who we are as a country. That’s not who we are as a state."

An expert on the international criminal group Tren de Aragua (TdA) is warning that if sanctuary city and state policies are allowed to continue, the U.S. will soon be facing a slate of targeted assassinations across the U.S.

"The next step is targeted assassinations," said Jose Gustavo Arocha, a former lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan army. "That is what has happened in Venezuela, what is happening in Latin America and that will happen here in the U.S."

Tren de Aragua, which means "Train from Aragua," is a massive criminal and terrorist organization that originated a decade ago in a Venezuelan prison. In addition to Venezuela, the group has already established a significant presence in Southern American countries, including Colombia, Peru and Chile and is present in 30 major U.S. cities.

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According to Arocha, who fled the country after being imprisoned by socialist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro for eight months, TdA is a "state-sponsored, Maduro regime organization," formed and trained by the Venezuelan government to sow chaos, violence and discord throughout the Western hemisphere.

"Right now is the right moment to take action," he said. "If you let them grow, they are going to be more embedded in the communities, it's going to be harder to take any action against them, and it's going to be painful for U.S. society."

He said that recent movements to defund the police and enshrine sanctuary city and sanctuary state policies into law only further embolden and enable TdA to carry out its crimes with impunity.

If policies like this are allowed to continue, he said TdA is "going to be all over the United States" like a "disease."

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"When I listened last year to the 'defund the police' [movement], I said … ‘something is going to happen here because it is the same playbook," he explained. "Because if you don't have rule of law, you don't have police, it’s like a special ground for this kind of organization to establish and then they control the society because there are no police, there is no rule of law. They're going to do whatever they want."

Who will be in Tren de Aragua’s crosshairs? Arocha said TdA’s primary targets will be law enforcement officials, such as ordinary police officers, police chiefs and sheriffs, as well as any elected officials who attempt to crack down on them.

Besides law enforcement and political leaders, Arocha said it is likely that TdA will also target enemies and refugees of the Maduro regime.

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According to Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, the TdA assassinations in the U.S. have already begun.

She pointed to the case of TdA member Yurwin Salazar who she said beat, tortured and killed a former Venezuelan police officer named Jose Luis Sanchez Valera in Miami in November 2023. In addition to the murder, Salazar also stole the former police officer’s life savings.

Agreeing with Arocha, Vaughan said that sanctuary policies are especially harmful to efforts to combat TdA.

"The sanctuary policies have to go," she said. "It's critical that these local law enforcement agencies are able to share information with ICE and vice versa."

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"It's no coincidence that so many of these TDA members are in sanctuary jurisdictions like Chicago, Colorado and New York. That is not a coincidence. They know that they can hide behind their sanctuary policies and that is one reason they choose these communities because they know that the local authorities are not going to turn them over to immigration agents for removal," she explained.

While some individual states, such as Texas, have taken significant steps to root out TdA, she said that ultimately the federal government will have to lead the effort and incorporate all aspects of government to dismantle the group.

"It's too big a problem to solve at the local level," she said. "And one of the most important elements of that campaign to eliminate TdA has to be building more effective partnerships with local law enforcement agencies, particularly in the areas where TdA has been operating, some of which are sanctuary jurisdictions. So, this artificial obstruction between local law enforcement agencies and ICE that's been imposed for political reasons has to end."

A former high-ranking Venezuelan military officer is sounding the alarm about the migrant gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) being used as a tool of the Venezuelan government to sow violence and discord throughout the United States.

Tren de Aragua, which means "Train from Aragua," is a massive criminal and terrorist organization that originated a decade ago in a Venezuelan prison and is already present in more than 30 major U.S. cities.

José Gustavo Arocha, a former lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan army, told Fox News Digital that socialist Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is behind much of TdA’s growth and rapid expansion, first in Latin America and now in the U.S.

VIOLENT VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA SPREADS TO ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST REMOTE STATES

Arocha fled Venezuela to the United States in 2015 after being imprisoned by the Maduro regime for eight months. Since then, he said the situation has only worsened with Maduro asserting ever more control over the region. This year, Maduro retained control of the country by prevailing in a hotly contested election that was widely believed to be fraudulent. 

"We have to understand also something of the Tren de Aragua, the TdA. It's a state-sponsored Maduro regime organization," he said. "The real boss of the Tren de Aragua is in Caracas, Venezuela. It is the Maduro regime, because they created TdA, and they use the TdA as a blackmail [tool] for any situation."

Arocha said the Maduro dictatorship’s counterintelligence agency – the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, also known as "DGCIM" – has been using TdA as an asymmetrical warfare tool, giving itself "plausible deniability."

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Tren de Aragua first burst onto the scene in the U.S. when several members of the gang violently took control of an apartment building in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado. Since then, the gang has been responsible for a steady stream of violent attacks and gang-related crimes, including the high-profile murder of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia.

While some media reports have portrayed TdA as a simple gang, Arocha said the group has been trained and enabled by the Venezuelan government and DGCIM to advance a specific agenda and criminal ideology. Even the name "train from Aragua," he said, evidences the group’s intent to transport its ideology throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Arocha said the Venezuelan government has already used TdA to inflict crippling crime waves in surrounding countries, helping to usher in a slate of socialist-friendly governments in Colombia, Peru and Chile.  

"They want to create all sorts of chaos in countries in order to shape the contours of the borders and also to create a sensation of instability [and] criminality," he said. "This kind of culture they are exporting outside from Venezuela, first of all [to] Latin America, and right now the U.S."

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According to Arocha, the Venezuelan government has seized on the historic migrant crisis under the Biden administration as a "big opportunity" to "create roots" in the U.S. The administration further worsened the situation by temporarily lifting key oil sanctions previously in place against Maduro.

"Just imagine, there are more or less 8 million Venezuelan migrants. It’s a huge number," he said. "If you look at that, it's like a wall where it's spreading all over the states. And when you take into consideration the bussing of the migrants from Texas to other states, they are spreading like a disease, like a virus, all over the country."

With President-elect Donald Trump soon to replace Biden, Arocha said Trump must put the destruction of Tren de Aragua at the "top" of the list of day-one priorities. While acknowledging that it's crucial to close the southern border, Arocha said Tren de Aragua will simply return if the U.S. does not "contain" Maduro.

"Just imagine that, OK, you take all of Tren de Aragua and send [them] to Venezuela or whatever country. It's going to come back. That’s not going to finish the disease," he said. "You have to combat the cause of TdA. The cause of the TdA is the behavior of the Maduro regime that is trying to hurt the American people by using this asymmetrical tool."

"The rule is to not give Maduro the ability to continue in Venezuela," Arocha said. "What I mean is that if you let Maduro to have oil revenues, have the access to resources, you have to have TdA here in the United States."

Seven-year-old Ivory Smith was killed by Venezuelan migrant Joel Enrique Gonzalez Chacin in a late-night drunk driving accident in north Houston just two and a half months after ICE released a hold against him, court documents revealed.

Fox 26 Houston reported that court records revealed that Chacin had previously been placed on another ICE hold earlier this year after being arrested for assaulting a family member in June. 

The felony assault charge against him ended up being dropped to a misdemeanor and, after pleading guilty, Chacin was sentenced to 113 days in jail, which he had already served, and was released that same day. The ICE detainer against him was also lifted that same day for an unknown reason. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to ICE to find out why the detainer against Chacin was lifted and has not yet heard back.

Authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital that the 41-year-old migrant was intoxicated when he T-boned Christina Smith and her daughter Ivory at 2:45 a.m. Police said that Chacin took photographs of the scene of the crash "instead of helping" and then drove off. The two victims were only a few minutes from home.

Smith was severely injured in the wreck but has since been released from the hospital. Chacin was arrested for intoxicated manslaughter and has been put on a new ICE detainer.

Ivory was in second grade. According to a statement released by the family, the mother continues to "endure immense physical and emotional pain" from the accident.  

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"No parent should have to suffer the unbearable loss of a child, especially under circumstances that could and should have been prevented," said the family, adding, the incident is a "stark reminder that we need stronger accountability and justice to prevent further suffering for families like ours."  

"Even more troubling is the fact that this individual was released after being detained earlier this year, only to find themselves back in custody after causing irreparable harm," the family went on. "Why do we have holds in place if they fail to keep dangerous individuals off our streets?  … How can a system allow such leniency, where a person with such a record is given a chance to walk free and re-offend?"

Speaking of Ivory, the family said, "Her life, filled with innocence and joy, was taken far too soon due to the reckless actions of an individual who chose to drive under the influence."

"We will continue to demand answers and advocate for change so that no other family has to endure the pain, loss, and injustice that we are experiencing," they said. "Ivory’s light and legacy deserve better, and her memory will guide us as we work toward a safer future for all."

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report. 

New York police are investigating a fatal immigrant gang stabbing in Lower Manhattan that left one teenager dead and another injured.

The stabbing is believed to have erupted because of a dispute between migrant gangs that have taken over several New York City-run migrant hotels in the neighborhood, according to local news channel ABC7 NY.

The two victims, both teenage migrants reportedly associated with a Venezuelan gang called "Los Diablos de la 42" (the devils of 42nd Street), were attacked by three unknown assailants at 7:43 p.m. on Dec. 5. 

The deceased victim, a 17-year-old named Yeremi Colino, was living in the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, which is being used as a migrant shelter paid for by the City of New York. Colino was stabbed in the chest and was taken to a nearby hospital after a bystander called 911. Colino died from his wounds in the hospital.

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The second victim, an 18-year-old migrant named Alan Magalles Bello, was stabbed in the arm by a screwdriver but is expected to recover.

The three assailants, who were wearing COVID masks, were caught on camera. Police have yet to make any arrests.

The incident was initially being investigated as a hate crime as early reports indicated the assailants attacked after asking the two victims if they spoke English. Several Democratic politicians rushed to condemn the attack as "racist."

According to local outlet amNewYork Metro, Congressman Dan Goldman, whose district includes portions of Manhattan, said that "two migrant teenagers were stabbed in our city because they didn’t speak English."

"I condemn this racist, xenophobic hatred in the strongest terms – it has no place in our city and must be rejected," he said, adding that "these suspects must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Police are no longer investigating the attack as a hate crime, however, after video footage indicated the confrontation unfolded over gang signs.

According to ABC7 NY, video footage recorded the victims confronting the larger group asking; "Why are you flashing gang signs?" before a brawl ensued, which left Colino dead and Bello injured. 

The New York Post reported that both victims were associated with the "Diablos de la 42" gang, which has ties to the international Venezuelan terrorist group "Tren de Aragua."

ABC7 NY reported that the suspects are believed to be gang members in the Caribbean migrant community.

New York Police Department Detective Bureau Assistant Chief Jason Savino said that the Diablos gang has issued messages mourning the loss of Colino and vowing revenge on the Caribbean gang. 

Democratic New York Rep. Dan Goldman is being ripped for comments he made during a House hearing on illegal immigration about Nassau County law enforcement, saying he is looking forward to not having to hear from Nassau police officers again.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Pat Ryder, who testified during the hearing, told Fox News Digital he was "taken aback" by Goldman’s comments, which he said were "disrespectful" to him and all men and women in law enforcement.  

The incident occurred during a House Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology hearing titled "Given the Green Light: Open Border Policies and Threats to Law Enforcement."

After being recognized by subcommittee Chairman Anthony D’Esposito, Goldman, who represents portions of Manhattan and Brooklyn, launched into a rant in which he said he was shocked to have to sit through another hearing about the illegal immigration crisis and indicated he was especially tired of hearing from Nassau County, New York, law enforcement officials.

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"It is quite shocking that we are having another hearing about this same topic. We have certainly exhausted it," Goldman said.

"I think we’ve probably had every single law enforcement official from Nassau County before this subcommittee. Can’t say I’m going to miss that when the chairman is not going to be with us next term."

Goldman proceeded to repeatedly cut off some of the law enforcement officials testifying during his questioning. In one instance, Goldman shouted, "It’s my time sir," when Jonathan Thompson, executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association, attempted to finish answering a question.

D’Esposito, who represents Nassau County in Congress, pointed out during the hearing that Goldman, who has a net worth of $253 million and is heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. jeans company, owns a summer home in the county and is one of the residents kept safe by Nassau officers.

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"Commissioner Ryder, I’m sure Mr. Goldman means no absolute disrespect to the people of Nassau County as he appreciates you keeping his summer home safe each year," D’Esposito said immediately after Goldman’s time talking had expired.  

"Unfortunately, it's as expected from a partisan hack like Dan Goldman," the chairman told Fox News Digital.

"These are the men and women that hold the line between good and evil. And the idea that Congressman Goldman had to talk about the fact that he was looking forward to not having to hear from Nassau County police officials, well, he should take inspiration from the work that's been done here in Nassau County," said D’Esposito.

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Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, told Fox News Digital Goldman "uniformly winds up on the wrong side of the issue" whenever he speaks out about public safety issues. 

"Thus, it isn’t very surprising that he doesn’t want to hear from the men and women who are actually out on the streets trying to protect our communities. He’s just playing to form and doesn’t know it. That’s all," said Johnson. 

Ryder told Fox News Digital he was struck by the unprofessionalism displayed by Goldman during the hearing.

"I take time out of my schedule to prepare a statement, present the PowerPoint and I send it all in. I fly down here yesterday morning at 4 a.m. I get in front of Congress … and before he even got into asking me a question, which he never did, he makes that blanket statement like I'm offending him by being there And then, [regarding] law enforcement, he's tired of hearing from the Nassau County Police Department," said Ryder.

It was Ryder’s first time testifying before Congress. He said he was eager to share his expertise on the challenges law enforcement faces responding to the migrant crisis and migrant crime in his community. Ryder had no idea why Goldman seemed to be personally bothered by his presence.

"We have to do what we have to do for our residents in Nassau County. He's got to do what he's got to do for his residents in New York City. But to be disrespectful at a public hearing like that for no reason — I didn't do any attacks on him — I was really taken aback. And I thought it to be quite unfair that he would attack somebody who is a citizen coming there to do the right thing and give up my opinion and my statistical data in support of our migrant crime issue," he said.

While he believes his message was received on the right side of the aisle, he said, "I don't believe it was received by everyone on the left side of the aisle, especially not Congressman Goldman.

"He got up right after he made his statement and left, he just walked out," added Ryder. "I thought that was also disrespectful, the hearings were not over."

Ryder said he believes Goldman and many other politicians who have criticized law enforcement for doing their jobs could learn a lesson from the officers of Nassau County.

"The men and women in law enforcement, law professionals, they will go out and do their job no matter what the law is, no matter what the challenges. We don't question it. We just go and do it. … We have a very proactive approach towards dealing with the migrant issues, but we are respectful and fair," he said. "They can all take a little bit of a lesson on that professionalism."

Authorities have arrested six Guatemalan human smugglers linked to a 2021 semi-truck crash that killed more than 50 migrants and injured more than 100, the Department of Justice announced this week.

This comes three years after the tragic accident that occurred in Chiapas, Mexico, which killed and maimed scores of migrants, including children.

Four of the Guatemalan nationals – Tomas Quino Canil, 36; Alberto Marcario Chitic, 31; Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, 24; and Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala, 42 – were arrested by Guatemalan law enforcement and surrendered to U.S. authorities.

Another smuggler – Jorge Agapito Ventura, 32 – was taken into custody by U.S. law enforcement at his home in Cleveland, Texas. The name of the sixth smuggler was blacked out in court documents from the federal court in Texas.

According to Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez, the smugglers are part of a Guatemalan criminal group called "Los Quinos." All six were indicted in connection with the crash in a federal court for the Southern District of Texas. 

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According to the indictment, all six smugglers conspired between October 2021 and February 2023 to facilitate the travel of migrants from Guatemala through Mexico with the United States as the intended destination.

The indictment alleges that the smugglers recruited Guatemalan migrants to enter the U.S. illegally, collected payments from them and even distributed written scripts to migrant children on what to say if apprehended by U.S. immigration authorities.

During the journey, the smugglers moved the migrants on foot and on buses, cattle trucks and trailers.

On Dec. 9, 2021, migrants being transported by the smugglers in a trailer crashed into a steel pedestrian bridge near a small town called Tuxtla Gutierrez, resulting in more than 50 deaths.

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Rescue workers discovered the crash with migrants inside the cargo trailer tossed and crushed in a pile of both the living and the dead. The trailer had been loaded with around 200 migrants.

In a statement released this week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said: "Human smugglers should heed these charges and arrests as a warning: you will be held accountable for your deadly crimes."

"The Justice Department is holding accountable the individuals who we allege preyed on vulnerable migrants and are responsible for this heinous crime that resulted in the deaths of over 50 people and injured over 100 more," said Garland. "We will continue to work across agencies and across borders to stop the scourge of human smuggling."

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U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas said that "while this crash transpired beyond our borders, it is imperative that the pursuit of justice transcends those boundaries."

"Today, we reiterate our commitment to ensuring that those allegedly responsible for exploiting the vulnerabilities of families seeking refuge and opportunity face the full force of the law," said Hamdani.

The six are being charged with conspiracy to bring undocumented aliens to the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injuries and causing death. The penalties for these crimes include death or imprisonment up to life. 

A new report released by the Heritage Foundation offers the first comprehensive English language look at the massive Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) whose cruel exploits in the U.S. have been making national headlines.

The verdict? According to the report’s author, Joseph Humire, the threat America faces from Tren de Aragua is much worse than most people think.

Titled "Derailing the Tren de Aragua," the report offers U.S. leaders a starting point to understand the violent criminal organization that it says was "honed and perfected inside Venezuelan prison walls then exported throughout the Western Hemisphere."

Humire told Fox News Digital that he hopes the report will give the incoming Trump administration a starting point on how to respond to and dismantle the TdA before it can continue to grow more roots within U.S. borders.

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"The TdA is unique among criminal organizations because it has an ideology associated with it," Humire said in the report. "Now that the TdA is already present in America, to fix this, a proper understanding of the TdA is necessary to detect their motives, tactics, and overall strategy of organized crime."

Humire, who is director of the Center for a Secure and Free Society and a Heritage Foundation fellow, told Fox News Digital that the first thing to understand about Tren de Aragua is that it is much more than a gang. Rather, it is an organized international terrorist effort backed by some of America’s worst enemies to sow chaos and destabilize the U.S.

Born from a Venezuelan prison more than a decade ago, Tren de Aragua, which means "Train from Aragua," burst into the national consciousness in 2023 after reports of members of the group holding an entire apartment building hostage in Aurora, Colorado, a suburb of Denver.  

Since then, reports of violent crimes by Tren de Aragua members have spread like wildfire, including the high-profile murders of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston.

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American media coverage and politicians have cast Tren de Aragua as a group of simple thugs and criminals. However, Humire’s report emphasizes that Tren de Aragua is a state-sponsored transnational criminal organization sponsored by and embedded in the Venezuelan socialist government.

Rather than working to detect and deter criminals and terror, Humire said that key aspects of the Venezuelan government help facilitate TdA’s operations, not only within Venezuela but throughout the Western Hemisphere. 

With the backing of the Venezuelan government, he said TdA has an intentional "invasion ideology" that is bent on achieving territorial control of neighborhoods and regions in a matter of weeks rather than the yearslong process taken by most gangs and transnational criminal organizations.

'SLAP IN THE FACE': MEDIA, GOVERNMENT DOWNPLAYING VENEZUELAN GANGS, SAYS WOMAN WHO FLED HER COLORADO APARTMENT

While many comparisons have been drawn between Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran gang La Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13), TdA is expanding much more quickly, which Humire said is likely due to its unique origin and state sponsorship in Venezuela.

He also alleged that TdA’s rapid expansion in the United States is a "direct consequence of the Biden–Harris Administration’s failed immigration policies and lack of border enforcement."

The Biden Cuban, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans parole program and the Venezuelan parole program before it have made it so that in many cases Venezuelan migrants are being waved into the country en masse with little to no vetting. Because of these policies, the Venezuelan population in the U.S. has grown by nearly 1 million – 520.8% – becoming the fastest-growing nationality in the U.S. since 2021.

The result has been that though TdA is new to the U.S., it now has a presence in more than 30 major U.S. cities and at least 100 federal investigations involving the group are underway, as the report puts it, "catching most of the U.S. law enforcement community by surprise."

COLORADO REPUBLICANS SOUND OFF ON IMPACT OF MIGRANT SURGE ON CITIZENS: ‘THEIR SOULS ARE CRUSHED’

In the first 100 days of his new administration, Humire said Trump should follow the example set by Texas’ efforts to root out the gang by delivering on his promise to launch an "Operation Aurora" to take a "whole-of-government approach" that uses federal resources within the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the military to complement state-led law enforcement efforts as well as partner with Latin American allies to hit TdA from every angle.

"It is believed that the main TdA leaders have not yet arrived in America, meaning time is of the essence to take preventive measures," says the report.

Humire said the Trump Department of Homeland Security should immediately label TdA a transnational terror group and mark Venezuelan migrants as "special interest aliens." This designation would reverse the Biden administration’s policy of waving in Venezuelan migrants and instead allow U.S. immigration officials to more properly vet Venezuelan migrants.

Though this may sound controversial, Humire said it's something that would not only better protect American citizens in the interior but also legitimize asylum seekers fleeing Venezuela.

TEXAS HAS SPENT MILLIONS PLACING RAZOR WIRE ALONG BORDER: IS IT WORKING?

"This is really meant to protect the Venezuelan migrants because just because you come from one of those countries," he said. "Most Venezuelan migrants will actually agree with this because they don't want to be infiltrated by Tren de Aragua, and all Venezuelan migrants know how brutal and dangerous Tren de Aragua truly is."

Humire said there are already positive signs from the Trump transition that the president-elect is serious about his promise to dismantle TdA.

"I think that appointing the border czar so early in the transition process was a clear signal that that's one of the top, if not the top priority of the new Trump administration," he said. "And Tom Homan, who was appointed as the border czar, is very well aware of this gang Tren de Aragua and all of the transnational criminal organizations that are undermining American sovereignty."

He also said that some of Trump’s key Cabinet appointments, such as Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Rep. Michael Waltz for national security adviser, is evidence of a whole-of-government approach in which people in the administration realize that TdA "could be a big problem unless we nip it at the bud immediately."

"This is something that the Biden administration could have done. They had all the tools necessary to do that, but they missed the key ingredient, which is political will," he said. "So, the political will in the new administration to tackle this issue is very high, going from the president down to his appointees and all throughout."

California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta has joined a growing list of Democratic leaders vowing to resist President-elect Donald Trump and border czar Tom Homan’s plans for mass deportations.

Last week, Bonta issued new guidance to courthouses, healthcare facilities, universities, schools, labor agencies, public libraries and shelters, requiring state-run agencies to adopt policies to resist Trump’s "draconian" and "inhumane" immigration enforcement actions.

"My office will continue to use the full force of the law and every tool at our disposal to protect the rights of California’s immigrants – and we need staff at these critical locations to do the same," Bonta said. "We cannot let the Trump deportation machine create a culture of fear and mistrust that prevents immigrants from accessing vital public services." 

BLUE STATE FACES SPIKE IN MIGRANT SEX CRIMES AS TOP CITY PLEDGES RESISTANCE TO TRUMP DEPORTATIONS

According to California's AG office, the guidance lays out model policies and recommendations that "guide public institutions in complying with California law limiting state and local participation in immigration enforcement activities."

"In California, we believe our public resources, like libraries, hospitals, courthouses and schools should be available for all without fear of civil immigration enforcement," Bonta said during a press event announcing the guidance. "The model policies we’re issuing to public facilities … provide policy recommendations that may mitigate disruptions from immigration enforcement actions at public institutions."

The guidance refers state agencies to a 2017 law called the "California Values Act" that the AG office said, "prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from assisting with immigration enforcement, with limited exceptions."

BLUE STATE GOVERNORS SCORNED AFTER SENDING WARNINGS TO TRUMP: 'THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DONE WITH' THIS

Bonta’s guidance includes prohibiting the "unauthorized" collection or disclosure of information that "might indicate an individual’s or family’s citizenship or immigration status," as well as instituting a policy of always referring federal law enforcement officials to a designated person who will "have the authority to respond to immigration enforcement-related requests."

"I want to emphasize that the California DOJ is here to protect immigrants’ safety, immigrants’ freedoms and immigrants’ rights," said Bonta. "Let me be clear, President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda is draconian and his rhetoric, xenophobic."

Bonta, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines with his parents at 2 months old, also said that Trump’s deportation plan is "fiscally irresponsible." He called immigrants "the backbone of our nation."

1.4 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN US HAVE BEEN ORDERED DEPORTED, BUT HAVE YET TO BE REMOVED: OFFICIAL

Kevin McCarthy, former speaker of the House and congressman from California, told Fox News that California politicians like Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom are costing California taxpayers huge sums by making the state a "magnet" for illegal immigrants.

"He’ll give them free healthcare, I mean, he denies California citizens certain things but not to those who come illegally that’s why we attract so many and it’s costing a great deal, we have a huge deficit in California," said McCarthy.

McCarthy said that Bonta’s actions are an attempt to "make a name for himself" in Democratic politics despite concerns over illegal immigration and violent crime by illegal migrants playing a major role in Trump's retaking of the White House in 2024.

"These attorneys general should take a deep breath, listen to what the American public said and understand that immigration was one of the major reasons why Donald Trump won, and it wasn’t a Republican issue, [it was] Republican and Democrat too," he said.

He pointed to the election of Nathan Hochman as Los Angeles County District Attorney, who he said was "overwhelmingly elected because we watched the crime go rampant."

"As attorney general, your job is to protect your citizens. Why wouldn’t you want these gang members, I mean these are ruthless gang members and these have been running the drugs of fentanyl that have been killing your children, why wouldn’t you want them out? I would think that would be your job without having the president do it," said McCarthy. "People want to see something else happen, especially from this attorney general."

Massachusetts has seen a spike in illegal migrants arrested for sex offenses over the last several months as the state and city of Boston have pledged to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.

Since August, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officials have arrested 26 illegal migrants in the Boston area for sex crimes against children ranging from child rape to sexual assault to distributing child pornography.

Many of these migrants were previously removed from the U.S. only to later illegally re-enter the country.

As recently as Dec. 3, an illegal migrant, Adrian Patricio Huerta-Nivelo, 25, was removed by ICE after it was discovered he was wanted for rape of a minor in his home country of Ecuador.

ICE NABS ANOTHER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN MASS. CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX CRIME, AS GOV SNUBS TRUMP DEPORTATIONS

Nivelo’s removal came just a day after the Boston City Council unanimously voted to reaffirm a 2019 measure restricting Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE in deporting illegal migrants. The measure seeks to protect immigrant communities from "unjust enforcement actions" and restricts Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE and bans police from keeping migrants in custody for possible deportation unless there is a criminal warrant.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has also vowed that state police would "absolutely not" assist Trump in the mass deportations operation.

Despite this, a spokesperson for Healey denied that Massachusetts is a "sanctuary state," telling Fox News Digital that "as a former prosecutor and attorney general, the governor believes violent criminals should be deported."

Boston officials have been largely silent on the series of sex crimes against residents in the city. Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, and the Boston City Council did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

MIGRANT ACCUSED OF VIOLENT CRIMES ARRESTED BY ICE AFTER MASSACHUSETTS COURT REFUSED TO HONOR DETAINER

Boston ICE officials arrested six illegal migrants for sex crimes against children in November.

One of the most recent arrests, announced by ICE on Dec. 5, involved a 46-year-old Honduran national named Salvador Castro Garcia, who is charged with indecent assault and battery of a child under 14.

Garcia was previously deported in 2001 but then re-entered the country at an unknown location and time. ICE took Garcia into custody on Nov. 21 after he was released on bail by the Brockton District Court.

In addition to Garcia, Boston ICE ERO officials arrested Felix Meletz Guarcas, a 45-year-old Guatemalan national, on Nov. 20 after he was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor.

'SANCTUARY' CITY MAYOR VOWS SHE WILL DEFY TRUMP'S MASS DEPORTATION PUSH: 'CAUSING WIDESPREAD FEAR'

According to an ICE statement, the Rhode Island Department of Corrections refused ICE’s request to hold Guarcas in custody, forcing agents to make a dangerous arrest in a public parking lot. ICE is currently holding Guarcas in custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge.

On Nov. 18, Boston ICE officials arrested Belardis Tapia Gonzalez, a Dominican national charged with second-degree child molestation-sexual assault, and Alexandre Romao De Oliveira, who was charged with rape of a child in his home country of Brazil.

Billy Erney Buitrago-Bustos, a 42-year-old Colombian migrant, was arrested by ICE in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Nov. 15 after being charged with rape of a child by force, statutory rape, and aggravated rape against a minor.  

On Nov. 12, ICE arrested Guatemalan illegal migrant Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz, 21, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, after he was charged in Massachusetts with rape of child by force, rape of a child and indecent assault and battery against a minor.

Boston ICE ERO arrested three illegal migrants for child sex crimes in October.

Officials arrested Andre Tiago Lucas, 36, from Brazil, on Oct. 31. Lucas fled his native country after being convicted of the rape of a 13-year-old child.

Two more migrants – Colombian national Mateo Hincapie Cardona, 28, and 20-year-old Guatemalan national Selvin Alex Galvez-Mejia – were arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Oct. 29 and Oct. 18, respectively.

Cardona is charged with enticing a child under 16, distribution of obscene matter, and lascivious posing and exhibiting a child in the nude. Mejia is charged with rape and indecent assault and battery against a minor.

Boston ICE officials arrested nine illegal migrants charged with sex crimes against children in September.

Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas, a 38-year-old Guatemalan national, was arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Sept. 20. He was charged with forcibly raping a Massachusetts minor.

Within a single week, seven illegal migrants - Abraham Malpica, Sept. 13, Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, Sept. 12, Enrique Alberto Ortiz-Brito, Sept. 12, Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez, Sept. 11, Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, Sept. 11, Jefferson Jerome, Sept. 11, Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, Sept. 10, Elmer Sola, Sept. 10 – were arrested by Boston ICE officials for sex crimes.

On Aug. 1 Jorge Luis Castro-Alvarado, 28, Guatemala, was arrested after raping a Massachusetts resident.

In August, six illegal migrants – Akim Marc Desire, 18, Haiti, Warley Neto, 24, Brazil, Elmer Perez, 49, Guatemala, Cory Bernard Alvarez, 26, Haiti, Marc Kervens Beauvais, 34, Haiti, Jackson Bento-Pinheiro, 35, Brazil – were arrested by Boston ICE for sex crimes against children.

FIRST ON FOX: A top law enforcement official in Tennessee is warning that the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is operating in the state and conducting human trafficking -- the latest indicator of a growing footprint by the bloodthirsty gang.

"We've seen, in the past few months, a resurgence of intelligence information that tells us they are operating in our state. They are operating in the human trafficking space," Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said.

Rausch made the comments on the "Unmuted with Marsha" podcast with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., video of which was shared with Fox News Digital. Blackburn noted the recent arrest of a Tren de Aragua fugitive from Venezuela with a history of violent crimes in Tennessee. 

EX-ICE OFFICIAL WARNS TREN DE ARAGUA HAS GROWN FASTER INSIDE US THAN MURDEROUS RIVAL GANG: ‘PUT THEM OUT NOW’

Tren de Aragua is believed to have started in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and has since expanded into Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the U.S. 

They are believed to have grown exponentially with the surge of Venezuelan migrants into the U.S. Numerous crimes in the last year have been linked to TdA, in states including Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Colorado and New York.

Rausch said that in 2022, his agents first came across the gang in Tennessee and made arrests in 2023, and over time they encountered victims who provided additional intelligence about the gang’s operations in Tennessee and elsewhere throughout the U.S. He told Blackburn that they appeared to briefly leave the state, but have since returned.

"What they're doing is, they bring in these females, Venezuelan females, and they're bringing them into the country. They're smuggling them in, bringing them into the country. Some of them, they're bringing in, exploiting our system, where they'll come in and claim that they are fleeing the dictatorship and the challenges that exist in Venezuela," he said.

NEW REPORT WARNS BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG'S FOOTPRINT WILL REMAIN IN US ‘FOR DECADES’ 

Rausch said that his agency has conducted two major operations where it had located TdA members in the Nashville area. However, he did caution about the extent of their presence and said that it wasn’t as intense as it is in other states like Colorado.

"Most recently, when we were expressing that we knew they were in Tennessee, and they're operating in our major cities, that caused a lot of challenge, a lot of people got upset about that. They immediately went to thinking, 'This is TDA that is taking over apartment complexes, as we've seen in other cities.' We're not there yet, but we don't want to get there," he said.

Rausch warned that the gang typically starts with human trafficking and moves to other crimes like organized retail crime and theft, before getting into the drug trade and becoming increasingly violent against other cartels. 

"We certainly don't want to see it anywhere in the country, but my responsibility primarily is here in Tennessee, and so we don't want that happening. And so I raised the alarm that we know they're here operating human trafficking. We want to stop them at this point, where we can right now," he said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Blackburn asked about solutions to the crisis, and mentioned her own legislation that would encourage local law enforcement co-operation with the federal government when they encounter a criminal illegal immigrant. 

"When someone is committing crimes in your country, and they're in the country illegally, of course, you need to deport them," Blackburn said.

Rausch noted also that returning migrants to their countries of origin can be difficult when they don’t accept them. 

"What do we do with these individuals? Do we hold them here in the U.S. prison until that situation in whatever country it is they came from that we can't send them back to, that we figure that out? What is the answer to that?" he asked.

The conversation comes ahead of what is expected to be a historic deportation operation by the incoming Trump administration. Trump this week announced additional picks for his border security team, including former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott as his choice to lead Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

During the presidential election campaign, Trump said he intends to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle "every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil." 

Colorado Republicans are sounding off on "out-of-touch" Democrats after Denver Mayor Mike Johnston vowed to station police to block ICE agents from carrying out deportations and a report showed that the city has spent over $356 million in taxpayer dollars on services for migrants.  

The sum, which amounts to $7,900 per foreign national in the city and equates to 8% of the city’s total 2025 budget, was revealed by an updated analysis last week by the Common Sense Institute.

Rose Pugliese, leader of the Republican caucus in the Colorado State Assembly, told Fox News Digital that the massive influx of migrants in the state has resulted in heavier burdens on both local and state resources.

She said the Democrat-controlled legislature has spent an estimated $563 million on illegal immigrants since 2021, with $352 million of that on education spending alone.

"Without question, illegal immigration in Colorado has cost the state a significant amount of money that could have been spent supporting our constituents, roads, public safety, and other state services," she said.

CNN HOST VISIBLY STUNNED BY INCOMING BORDER CZAR SAYING HE'LL ‘JAIL’ DENVER MAYOR FOR REFUSING DEPORTATIONS

Pugliese called Mayor Johnston "out of touch on this issue," saying that the results of the 2024 election "mandated illegal immigration as a top concern throughout America."

"Removing and deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes against our citizens is a reasonable position," she said. "Unfortunately, there is no public estimate by the state regarding illegal immigrants in Colorado. This is due to policy decisions by the majority in the state legislature over the last ten years."

"Preventing an accurate accounting only aggravates the issue for local and state budgets when planning," she continued, adding that "if you don’t know the numbers, you can never be right."

DENVER MIGRANT ADVOCATES SAY SIX MONTHS OF FREE RENT, FOOD NOT ENOUGH: ‘A SLAP IN THE FACE’ AND ‘OFFENSIVE’ 

Meanwhile, Roger Hudson, a city councilman for Castle Pines, a small town just south of Denver, told Fox News Digital that "there's nothing kind, there's nothing hopeful" about what Democrats have done to the city.  

According to Hudson, Denver has accepted over 45,000 migrants since 2022. He said that these migrants have taken up much of the funding meant for important services in the city, including public schools and parks. 

"Now they're not mowing the grass in parks, the fountains are down, rec centers are closed, the homeless problem is completely out of control," he said. "What they’ve done to Denver is horrific." 

He also called out Democrats for shipping migrants to communities around the city, such as Aurora, where members of the Venezuelan gang "Tren de Aragua" terrorized an entire apartment building.

VENEZUELAN MIGRANT GANG TREN DE ARAGUA NOW OPERATING IN 16 STATES: REPORT

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"These migrants are preying on each other, they are abusing women, elderly women, elderly individuals, people who are disabled, they are robbing, they are causing a drug problem that wasn't here before in our state."

"What the Democrats and what our liberals and progressives have done in our state is obscene, and it shows, and our residents are tired of it," he went on. "In the past, it had been filled with hope. I mean, you have the Rocky Mountains in the background where there's nothing but hope and aspiration. Now, when you look down, and you look at the streets, they are filled with people begging not for food, but for their next fix or for a bottle of alcohol, and their souls are crushed."

A representative for the Denver City Council declined to comment on the $356 million spent on migrant services. Instead, the representative told Fox News Digital: "The Denver City Council is the legislative branch of the city government and isn’t involved in the day to day operations of these services."

The Biden administration is loosening some key immigration restrictions ahead of President-elect Trump’s second term, opening the door for thousands more illegal immigrants to enter the country.

Trump has indicated that he could declare a national emergency and use military assets to carry out mass deportations. The Biden administration, however, is taking steps to make Trump's plans for the border more difficult. The Biden Department of Homeland Security is launching an ICE Portal app in December that will allow migrants to skip their in-person check-ins at an ICE office and instead check in with immigration officials via an app on a phone or computer, according to reporting by The New York Post.

The app reportedly has severe glitching issues and does not track a migrant's location if he or she is using an Android phone or laptop.

Further, the app does not check migrants for past arrests or outstanding warrants and allows them to opt out of or contest government orders to undergo electronic tracking.  

EXPECT TRUMP TO ROLL BACK HABITUALLY ‘DEFRAUDED’ IMMIGRATION PROGRAM, EXPERT SAYS

The Post reported that up to 100,000 migrants will be enrolled in the new program’s first wave.

This comes after the Biden administration set the record for the highest number of illegal migrants entering the country in a single year in 2023, with 3.2 million entries. This surpassed the previous record of 2.7 million set the year before.

Among the cities most impacted by this surge is New York, which has seen over 223,000 migrants arrive in the city since spring 2022. As a sanctuary city, New York spent $3.7 billion in housing, food and other costs in the 2024 fiscal year alone.

Joe Borelli, a Republican New York City council member, told Fox News Digital that many were hoping that with a second Trump presidency on the horizon, the crisis would "wind down."

Instead, he said, "These actions taken during the death gargles of the Biden administration are disheartening, to say the least."

"This doesn't seem to be in the spirit of the peaceful transition Biden promised," he added. "This is a last-ditch effort to usurp the will of the people who voted decisively against sanctuary city policies and unrestrained illegal immigration."  

Meanwhile, Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican who represents the suburban New York District 17, told Fox News Digital that the administration’s decision to further loosen restrictions immediately after the murder trial of Laken Reilly’s killer "defies logic and all common sense."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

"For this news to come out just a day after Laken Reilly’s killer, Jose Ibarra was sentenced is astounding," he said. "Mr. Ibarra lived in a taxpayer-funded hotel in Queens and received a taxpayer-funded airplane ticket to Athens, Georgia, where he committed the heinous murder of Ms. Reilly."  

"It is appalling that in the waning days of the Biden administration, [Homeland Security Secretary] Alejandro Mayorkas is seeking to loosen restrictions on those who crossed the border illegally in the biggest sanctuary city in the country," he added.

Nearly 200 migrant advocacy groups crafted a letter to President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding they close ICE detention centers and consider releasing detainees ahead of the Trump administration's plan to reverse current policy. 

The letter, which was also "cc’d" to ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner and ICE chief of staff Michael Lumpkin, called for "immediate action to protect immigrant communities while [they] still can" before their administration’s term comes to a close.

"In your remaining months in office, you have an opportunity to honor your stated commitments to the dignity and humane treatment of all people, including those who immigrate to our nation…"

Without naming President-elect Trump, the groups warned the next administration is likely to follow "through on his mass deportation plans."

‘IT’LL UPEND THE COMMUNITY': PA TOWN ROILED BY TALK OF MIGRANT HOUSING IN CIVIL WAR-ERA ORPHANAGE

The groups warned that the move would separate families and "upend the lives of millions."

Spearheaded by the Detention Watch Network, the letter included 192 other signatories, including the American Friends Service Committee, Americans for Immigrant Justice, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, Human Rights Watch, Make the Road and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

The latter group is run by Kerry Kennedy – not her brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

By closing detention centers now, the consortium claims, it will put a stop to alleged "inhumane and abusive conditions" that purportedly include inadequate food and water, negligent medical care and deaths.

FLASHBACK: PA REPUBLICANS DRAFT BILL DIVERTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM SECRETIVE BIDEN-DHS FLIGHTS TO DE

"No one should be detained in these conditions. You [Biden and Mayorkas] promised to end the use of for-profit detention centers by the federal government and with over 90% detained at facilities run by private companies, this is your final chance to follow through on that promise," the letter reads.

The second of the three prongs is halting detention facility expansion efforts by way of freezing or rescinding RFPs (Requests for Proposal).

The consortium said the incoming Trump administration should not be gifted an expanded system through which to institute their countervailing goals.

"To protect families and prevent separations, you must take all possible action to prevent the incoming administration from being able to easily expand detention capacity, including by pressuring Congress to pass a reduced appropriation for immigration detention."

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Third, the groups pleaded for release proceedings to begin with "vulnerable populations" like migrants with physical or mental health concerns and those that have been deemed eligible for parole or Temporary Protected Status.

"People can and should be able to go through their immigration proceedings in community with the support of their loved ones and access to legal support."

"Now is the time to take decisive action to prevent catastrophe for millions of people and avoid handing the keys to an expanded and inhumane detention and deportation system to the next president," they wrote.

Other officials across the country have also warned against Trump's immigration policy proposals, with Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson calling Trump a "threat" against "new arrivals and undocumented families… and Black families."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Mayorkas for comment.