A new assessment by U.S. intelligence has contradicted a claim made by President Donald Trump that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Argua is linked to the Venezuelan government.
According to the Associated Press, the claim has been used by the Trump administration to justify the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants, U.S. officials have said.
The classified report from the National Intelligence Council, released this month, offers a more authoritative analysis compared to an earlier intelligence product from February 26, as reported by The New York Times last month. This information comes from two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The latest assessment, compiled with input from all 18 agencies of the intelligence community, emphasized that Tren de Aragua — a gang that emerged from a Venezuelan prison — lacks coordination with or support from President Nicolás Maduro or high-ranking officials in the Venezuelan government. The gang has been linked to crimes including kidnapping, extortion, and violence
Although it identified limited interactions between certain gang members and lower-level government officials but concluded there is no evidence of collaboration or a directive relationship between the gang and the government.
According to officials, of the 18 organizations that make up the U.S. intelligence community, the FBI was the only agency to disagree with the findings.
The intelligence assessment’s conclusions coincide with the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing the Trump administration to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law, to deport Venezuelan migrants. However, the ruling mandates that migrants must receive court hearings before being removed from the United States.
Trump invoked the act in March, declaring in a proclamation that Tren de Aragua “is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the Maduro regime, including its military and law enforcement apparatus.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed with Trump and defended the use of the law during an interview with Fox News on Monday, stating that Tren de Aragua is “a foreign arm of the Venezuelan government.”
“They are organized. They have a command structure. And they have invaded our country,” Bondi said.
