More than 2,700 foreign terrorist organization members arrested nationwide

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square 

Federal agents have so far arrested more than 2,700 members of transnational criminal organizations designated as foreign terrorist organizations, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Among them are members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration designated as an FTO in February.

A handful of district judges have tried to restrict the Trump administration from removing TdA members, as well as violent criminals, as part of a widespread effort to target crime, The Center Square has reported. The injunctions played a key role in attempts to block immigration enforcement, including high profile deportations of TdA members.

After the June 27 U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning district judges from imposing nationwide injunctions, Bondi said, “No longer will we have rogue judges striking down President Trump's policies across the entire nation.” 

The 6-3 Supreme Court ruling “correctly holds that the district court lacks authority to enter nationwide or universal injunctions. These lawless injunctions gave relief to everyone in the world instead of the parties before the court,” she said, effectively turning “district courts into the imperial judiciary.”

A handful of district judges “tried to seize the executive branch’s power and they cannot do that,” she said. “Their injunctions allowed district court judges to be emperors. They vetoed all of President Trump's power, and they cannot do that.”

Of the 94 federal judicial districts nationwide, only five issued a record 35 nationwide injunctions, out of 40 issued since Trump’s been in office.

“No longer,” she said. “These injunctions have blocked our policies from tariffs to military readiness to immigration to foreign affairs, fraud, abuse and many other issues.”

The Supreme Court ruling will impact dozens of cases after more than 300 lawsuits were filed against the administration over a range of policies, The Center Square reported.

When it comes to immigration enforcement, Friday marked the 2,711th arrest of individuals linked to FTO-designated transnational criminal organizations, she said. Arrests are being made by Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and others.

In January, Trump issued an executive order directing the Secretary of State to designate transnational criminal organizations as FTOs. In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated eight as FTOs:

• Tren de Aragua (also known as Aragua Train);
• Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13);
• Cartel de Sinaloa (also known as Sinaloa Cartel, Mexican Federation, Guadalajara Cartel);
• Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (also known as New Generation Cartel of Jalisco, CJNG, Jalisco New Generation Cartel);
• Carteles Unidos (also known as United Cartels, Tepalcatepec Cartel, Cartel de Tepalcatepec, The Grandfather Cartel, Cartel del Abuelo, Cartel de Los Reyes);
• Cartel del Noreste (also known as CDN, Northeast Cartel, Los Zetas);
• Cartel del Golfo (also known as CDG, Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas-Guillen Organization); and
• La Nueva Familia Michoacana (also known as LNFM).

In May, Rubio also designated two violent Haitian gangs, Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif, as FTOs and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, The Center Square reported.

The Trump administration began targeting transnational criminal organizations after millions of foreign nationals illegally entered the country under the Biden administration from FTO-based countries, including Venezuela, El Salvador and Mexico. As the border crisis worsened, violent TdA crime expanded in at least 22 states, The Center Square exclusively reported.

The Trump administration is also targeting violent criminals from countries of foreign concern like China and state sponsors of terrorism like Iran.

In his first 100 days in office, Trump’s National Counterterrorism Center identified nearly 1,200 alleged terrorists illegally in the U.S., The Center Square reported.

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