Tren de Aragua (TDA), the infamous street gang founded in Venezuela whom President Donald Trump invoked when he announced his usage of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport suspected members, has made dangerous inroads in New York City.
President Trump squarely pointed to TDA as one of his chief reasons for exercising the more than 225-year-old law to expand executive deportation authority. The White House said Sunday more than 300 TDA members had been rounded up and shipped out to El Salvador.
Signed into law by President John Adams, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allows the president to expel from the U.S. any person associated with an enemy power during a time of war. Despite a federal judge temporarily blocking Trump’s order, noting that the U.S. is not currently at war with Venezuela, the deportation went forward nonetheless.
“TDA is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet Earth. They rape, maim and murder for sport,” part of a statement issued by the White House on Sunday morning read. “This weekend, at the President’s direction, the Department of Homeland Security successfully arrested nearly 300 Tren De Aragua terrorists, saving countless American lives. Thanks to the great work of the Department of State, these heinous monsters were extracted and removed to El Salvador where they will no longer be able to pose any threat to the American People.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the United States flew out some 250 members whom El Salvador will reportedly be paid to hold. It is unclear, however, if these deportations took place before or after the judge blocked the order.
TDA’s crimes in New York
Though some have criticized the Trump administration as using TDA as a bogeyman to justify mass deportation, the facts are, however, that TDA has been responsible for its share of violent crime in the Big Apple.
TDA members has reportedly settled in NYC over the last several years, running amok and committing a slew of crimes. Last October, police officials told amNewYork Metro that TDA expanded with several subsets, such as “Los Diablos de la 42,” a group of juveniles who terrorized Times Square in a string of robberies.
Detectives at the time stated that this group operated out of city shelters and preyed on children in them by recruiting them to their malicious cause, which they used to stay out of custody.
The full extent of TDA became more apparent in January of 2025 when an alleged high-ranking member of the gang, Stefano Pachon, was charged in a 31-count gun trafficking indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for the criminal scheme after only being in the country since 2023.
Later that month, more arrests were made — this time with Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announcing the indictment of 10 alleged gun runners and TDA members. While making one of the arrests, prosecutors said, an NYPD officer’s arm was fractured after it became wedged in a door.
Current status of TDA in NYC
Despite the crackdowns and deportation order, police sources say TDA continues to be a persistent issue in the city. Nonetheless, local law enforcement say they are committed to fighting back.
Cops say that since November, more than 80 guns have been confiscated from TDA members. Police say they have also been hard at work attempting to drive scooter/moped crime; the devices are often a vehicle of choice for TDA members.
The NYPD revealed to amNewYork Metro that year to date, scooter crime is down 79%.
“While not all of these crimes were committed by TDA members, we know they were involved in and responsible for these types of crimes in the past that drove the previous uptick,” a police source said.
Cops also said that retail thrift is down 9% year to date, a trend associated with the TDA.
Still, this has not curbed the apparent fear-mongering of the gang issued by the Trump administration.
Reaction to Alien Enemies Act
World War II was the last time the Alien Enemies Act was called upon, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt invoked its authority. But it resulted in Japanese Americans being placed in internment camps — an action that is looked upon as a dark time in U.S. history, for which President Ronald Reagan apologized four decades later.
Criticisms of Trump’s wartime enactment came fast and thick Sunday, with some calling it not an attack on criminals but instead an attack on due process of law.
“With this executive order, the Trump administration is using fear and division to escalate its attacks on due process, which is a fundamental part of the U.S. Constitution and a foundational value in this country. The shocking invocation of an archaic wartime law will make communities less safe. It threatens families by fast-tracking deportations for Venezuelan immigrants, including children as young as 14, many of whom have the right to be in the U.S,” said Shatna Kessler at the Vera Institute of Justice. “Today’s actions would strip away their constitutional right to defend themselves in court, advance this administration’s agenda of mass detention and family separation, devastate local communities and their economies, and perpetuate a dangerous and false narrative that immigrants are enemies.”
Others say this is merely an excuse for Trump to continue a plan for mass deportations that will unjustly split up families or leave those detained with an inability to defend themselves in court.
“This extremely dangerous law declares war on children, parents, and workers just trying to support their communities and their families. It is an assault on due process, denying people any opportunity to defend themselves in court,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director at National Partnership for New Americans said. “Just as the Alien Enemies Act was weaponized to incarcerate and separate Japanese American families during World War II, the Trump administration is abusing this dangerous executive power to make more people deportable and justify his destructive and racist mass deportation agenda. The enemy is not our immigrant neighbors—it’s those willing to enact hate-fueled policies to justify tearing families apart.”
