Texas congressman warns Venezuelan gang is taking advantage of open southern border to gain power

Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-Texas, recently warned that a Venezuelan gang is taking advantage of the open U.S.-Mexico border and using it to gain power and influence. 

“This gang in several years is going to be the dominant transnational criminal organization throughout the United States. There’s no doubt in my mind,” Gonzalez said, according to The Daily Wire. 

He added that the gang has "no rules" and they "gobble up territory almost like a cancer."

The gang, known as "Tren de Aragua," is one of the most violent gangs in Venezuela and is known for murder, extortion and sex trafficking. 

The gang has allegedly been tied to strangling a retired police officer in Florida and beating another police officer in New York City. 

Also, Jose Ibarra, the illegal alien charged with the murder of Laken Riley, the young nursing student in Georgia, has several tattoos associated with the Venezuelan gang, according to the outlet.

Gonzalez said during the interview that if the U.S. government wants to stop the crisis, they need to shut down the border and deport illegal immigrants.

“You have to have ICE have the ability to go around and actively hunt these criminal aliens that have committed crimes, hunt them down and deport them,” he said. “That has to happen, and when it does happen, it can’t happen in a vacuum. People have to know what’s happening. And it can’t just happen in one part of the country. It has to happen throughout the country.”