Mayor Eric Adams and top NYPD brass stood shoulder to shoulder with President Trump’s controversial border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday to announce the arrest of alleged Tren De Aragua gang members who may or may not face due process before being deported.
According to Homan, 27 people with ties to the infamous criminal organization have been charged for the first time in a federal RICO case. Criminal charges against them include racketeering, sex trafficking, narcotics, robbery, carjacking, and firearms-related offenses.
“President Trump’s been clear, he made a promise to Americans to make the country safe again. And today you see one step, one small step, and many more steps to come here, to make this country safe and help Mayor Adams and the police commissioner,” Homan said during the April 22 press conference in Soho.
The officials made the announcement standing above a table filled with guns, which they say were confiscated from the gang.
Mayor Adams charged that the January 2024 assault on police officers in Times Square kicked off the months-long investigation that he says led to these arrests.
“I said: This can’t happen in our city, and we need to find everyone that’s responsible for it, because if you attack the symbol of public safety, man or woman who’s wearing that police uniform, you’re attacking the civility of our country. And I said: find them and send a strong message,” Adams railed.
Hizzoner, who has been widely criticized for vocalizing his support for the Trump administration, once again doubled down on his partnership with the Republican president and Homan himself.
“I know the side that I am on,” Adams said.
The indictment charges six alleged members of TDA. The second superseding indictment (dubbed the “Anti-Tren Indictment”) charges 19 alleged members of “Anti-Tren,” a splinter faction composed of former TDA members, along with two additional associates of Anti-Tren. Of the 27 defendants, 21 are in federal custody, including 16 who were already in federal criminal, immigration, or state custody and five who were arrested on both April 21 and 22 during operations in and outside of.
‘They don’t bypass the courts’
Following the announcement, Homan had a back-and-forth argument with reporters who challenged him over the legality of recent deportations and whether or not those arrested in this case will face due process before being shipped out of the country. The latest bust comes as the Trump administration faces numerous legal challenges to its deportation of reputed gang members to a mega-prison in El Salvador without following due process of law.
But Homan insisted to reporters that proper due process is being followed.
“They don’t bypass the courts,” Homan scoffed. “It’s case by case. There are thousands of cases a week.”
Numerous reports indicate that a number of individuals deported to El Salvador have not been convicted or even charged with a crime. This includes Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration admitted in court to sending to El Salvador in error — but has yet to comply with a unanimous Supreme Court decision ordering that the administration “facilitate” his release.
Homan also commented on his relationship with embattled Mayor Eric Adams, stating that he wants to Adams collaborate even further with ICE but says he does not lay the blame with Adams.
“I would like to see more but he is in a tough position with the city council fighting him all the way,” Homan said. “Anybody from the City Council here today? Speak up? Don’t you find that strange no member of the City Council is here today to look at what collaboration means.”
