What is Tren de Aragua?

Did the U.S. Department of Justice disobey a judge's verbal and written orders to stop deportations in progress? Some legal scholars believe the answer is yes, implying that the U.S. is on the brink of a constitutional crisis, with the judicial and executive branches at odds. Venezuelan Americans supported Trump during the election, so why is the Trump administration explicitly targeting Venezuelan immigrants with these mass deportation efforts? The answer is Tren de Aragua. We cover their origin story and more in this episode of The Friday Brief. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome
• 0:17 Deportations to El Salvador
• 2:07 Legal questions remain today
• 2:52 What is Tren de Aragua?
• 3:49 Venezuelan opposition leaders have a request
• 5:02 Venezuelan Americans feel "betrayed"
• 5:39 Let's learn from Martin Niemöller
• 6:47 Until next time!

Transcript

Welcome to The Friday Brief, a news podcast by Girl Friday. I’m Phoenix Ricks, the CEO of Girl Friday and your host. This is your brief for March 18, 2025. 

By now, you’ve probably seen the Hollywood Sicario-style footage of Venezuelan deportees being herded into a notorious “mega-prison” in El Salvador. It is formally known as the Center for Terrorism Confinement. CNN says it is considered the largest prison in the Americas, with the ability to hold 40,000 inmates. It was designed to curb domestic crime and now houses, reportedly, the country’s worst murderers and gang members. In the videos the White House shared, you can see deportees entering the mega prison compound. Shackled at their hands and feet, with their heads bowed under the pressure of guards’ hands, you see them shuffling into a massive facility with hundreds of silent and gaunt, often tattooed, faces looking back at the cameras through cages. 

CNN visited this mega-prison and reported on the conditions, noting that there will probably be international questions about human rights abuses. For instance, the solitary confinement cell is pitch black, minus one tiny skylight. This conversation is certainly brewing in legal circles in the U.S. because we don’t even know who the deportees are. We don’t know if the Trump administration can or should use the Alien Enemies Act to carry out these deportations. The act was designed in the 18th century, and it is supposed to be invoked during wartime. The last time it was used was during World War II, when the U.S. shamefully forced Japanese Americans into concentration camps. 

We’ve all been told by the White House that the deportees are dangerous Venezuelan gang members who have committed awful crimes in the U.S., but the public has yet to see a list of names and alleged offenses. There are far more questions than answers this morning. For instance, are they really Venezuelan gang members? Were other people, perhaps U.S. citizens even, wrongfully swept up as well? Did they receive due process? Did their alleged victims have the opportuity to share their stories in court? Did the Department of Justice ignore a judge’s verbal and written orders to stop the deporations? And, what does all this say about the state of the U.S. justice system? Well, if you ask Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, the answer to those basic rule of law questions may not matter. According to ABC news, he said, "We are not stopping. I don't care what the judges think." 

The Venezuelan gang the Department of Justice is focused on is known for committing the worst kinds of crimes. Tren de Aragua, as it's called, was formed in a Venezuelan prison in 2014. NPR says it means "the train of Aragua,” which may acknowledge a train connection between Caracas and Aragua. The gang gained power quickly, controlling the prison. They also apparently managed an entire society within those prison walls, including a zoo, swimming pool, and disco. When they weren’t building restaurants behind bars, though, their leadership was ordering murders and kidnappings. They grew and expanded to other South American countries, terrorizing communities, before landing in the United States. Here in the U.S., it seems they are largely accused of robberies, though NPR added that they are suspected in the “shooting of two New York Police officers and the killing of a former Venezuelan police officer in Florida.” The Miami Herald reported that Venezuela’s opposition leaders expressed support for Trump’s crackdown on Tren de Aragua but reiterated that the majority of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. are not criminals. They asked the U.S. government to protect those immigrants from deportation raids. Their ask may be too late. 

In February, NPR reported that the Trump administration ended the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan immigrants. Barring a change in those plans, which should take effect in April, it will impact the status of more than 300,000 Venezuelans. On the show Meet the Press, Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, said she believed TPS had been “abused.” An interesting word choice from someone who killed their healthy 14-month-old dog and wrote about it in a political memoir. On Meet the Press, she also said, "Venezuela purposely emptied out their prisons, emptied out their mental health facilities and sent them to the United States of America." 

Venezuelan Americans say this is a false narrative, and many feel betrayed by the Trump administration. Their community, which is largely based in southern Florida, overwhelmingly voted to support Trump despite the Trump campaign’s crystal clear messaging about immigration and crime. For some reason, they believed that public messaging from the campaign, which consistently threatened mass deportations, simply did not apply to their community. They are now learning, in front of the world, that they are not exempt from this administration’s ideologies and policies. 

It reminds me of the quote by Martin Niemöller. He was a Lutheran pastor in Germany who had, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, sympathized with Nazis and supported right-wing movements. But after Adolf Hitler started interfering in the Protestant Church, he became an outspoken critic. The Museum says from 1937 to 1945, he was imprisoned in Nazi prisons and concentration camps. There are several versions of his famous statement, and today, I’m going to read the one you can find on the wall of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” 

Democracy dies in silence; friends, speak up and remember that no one is exempt. 

And that concludes your brief for today. Make sure you and your friends don’t miss an episode! Follow Dear Girl Friday on Instagram and TikTok. You can sign up for The Friday Brief newsletter and check out “This Week in DC” on deargirlfriday.com. Until next time, I’m Phoenix Ricks signing off from Washington, D.C. Let’s work together for a world of good.