April 1, 2024 • 21 mins
In this episode, Julio Rosas discusses the Kyle Rittenhouse events and the controversy surrounding them. He then delves into the gang activity at the southern border and the threats posed by these gangs and cartels. Julio highlights the challenges in identifying and deporting criminals and the incentives for criminals to exploit the system. The Truth with Lisa Boothe is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday & Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Center for Immigration Studies recently found that the United
States now has a population of thirteen point seven million
illegal immigrants, up thirty seven percent under Joe Biden. Now
that averages about one hundred and seventy two thousand new
immigrants each month, or roughly four times the rate in
the Trump years, nearly three times the rate in the
(00:22):
Obama years. The foreign born or immigration population, both legal
and illegal, in the United States is now at a
high of fifty one point four million, fifteen point five
percent of the population. That surpasses all previous records. So
why are we allowing this? Why is Joe Biden allowing this,
(00:43):
allowing an open border, allowing these illegal aliens to come
into the United States? And who are these people? And
now because of Joe Biden, there are new threats of
gangs coming into the United States, particularly one from Venezuela.
It's called Trend de Aragua. We're gonna have Julio Rosas
come on the show to tell us about this gang,
(01:04):
what you should know, what we already know, and what
he has learned through his investigation. Julio, it's great to
have you on this show. So we were talking before
we came on and you were saying you were bummed
that you weren't able to make it to New York
for the protest against the Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and
(01:25):
Barack Obama fundraiser, and I was like, I think you're
the only person who's disappointed.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
To not be in the midst of that kind of chaos.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So, but we're fortunate to have you because you're able
to let us know what goes on at these things.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So, I mean, I'm not keen to the only thing
in that regard, I don't like going to New York
City just in general. So definitely it takes it takes
these these crazy things to kind of get me out there.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So you know, well, but you know that's you're able
to bring us you know what's happening on the ground,
which is really important because there's a lot of chaos
going on in the country and around the world, and
that's what we're going to get into today. But before
we get into some of the stuff that's happening on
the southern border and the consequences of Joe Biden's open borders,
you were at the Kyle Rittenhouse event. I believe it was,
(02:16):
was it last night or the night before, what did
you see? What was that like to cover? Kind of
break that down for us a little bit.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
So this recent one on yeah, Wednesday night, that was
at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, and that was
the second protest I've covered in relation to Kylerit and
House showing up to provide his side of the story.
The first one was in Memphis at the University of Memphis,
and in both of those, it's just funny because if
(02:46):
you would have told me all the way back in
twenty twenty, after you know, witnessing him do his self defense,
that you know, you know, or four years later, we're
going to be he's gonna be on tour and and people,
a large number of people are still going to believe
and you know, make these claims saying that he's a
(03:08):
white supremacist, he's a terrorist, he's a murderer, he's all
these things, and that's why he shouldn't be allowed to
speak on campus. I would have said that that actually
makes sense, that actually tracks given what we saw that
that year, because it's just crazy, it's really crazy that
the Writtenhouse case is really i mean, it's a litmus test,
almost an IQ test, and actually because the trial shouldn't
(03:33):
have happened, you know. But the only good thing about
it is that it laid everything out and play in
detail from start to finish. And you cannot go, you know,
you can't look at that, at that whole trial with
an open mind and not come overay with the fact that, Okay,
he shot in sell defense. You know, whether or not
he shouldn't have been there, whether or not you thought
(03:54):
he was stupid or not, Okay, fine, you know whatever.
You can think about that in whatever way you want to,
but that doesn't take away his right self defense.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And that's what happened that night.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And so going into now the college scene, which is
the incubators for the far left, it's crazy. It's crazy
seeing all these people just twist themselves into into these
mind mental gymnastic games that allows them to say, yes,
(04:26):
he shot three white people, but he's still a danger
to black people. I mean, that's what people were saying
at the University of Western Kentucky. They're saying that he
represents it's not just danger to black people, but the
Latinos and Asians and everything, even though again he's shown
that that's not what he subscribes to at all, and
so I think it's important for him to start these dialogues.
(04:51):
I would say to the WKU protesters, like to their credit,
they actually did allow him to speak at the inside
the venue. I mean, sure, kind of got at a
little rowdy, but I mean the University of Memphis crowd,
they just shouted him down. They just trying to disrupt
it as much as they can. So we'll see what
happens at Kent State University next month.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I'll be there to cover that.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
And obviously, with the history of Kent State, with the
Vietnam War and the protests and the National Guard killings,
people are getting fired up again about that, even though
those are two completely different things in my opinion. But
it just shows that this case, it didn't have to
get as controversial as it did, but it was because
of how created the twenty twenty was, but also just
(05:34):
because the mainstream media really did a disservice and reporting
the truth on what happened, and it also extended to
the trial as well. Well.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
And it's also, you know, kind of interesting for you
to be, you know, covering his sort of speaking tour
and going around because that's really kind of how you
I mean, you made a name for yourself before, but
you know, you wrote the book Fiery but mostly Peaceful.
You were on the ground in Kenosha when you know
all the chaos, you know, so you've really kind of
been following the story from the beginning. So I'm sure
(06:06):
that's interesting to kind of sort of like coming full
circle in some way, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
But so I want to shift.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
To the Southern border because I know you've been following
some gang activity that we're seeing as a result of
the Southern border. I know that the US Border Chief
Jason Owens recently said that the US has encountered migrants
from one hundred and sixty countries or more, which is outrageous,
and we're seeing a lot of gang activity as a
(06:34):
result of that break that down for us, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What are you seeing?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
What kind of gangs is Joe Biden allowing into the country,
and what sort of threat does that pose to all
of us?
Speaker 3 (06:45):
So historically, the main Latin American gangs that we have
encountered prior to the bidendministration has been the Mexican Cartels
MS thirteen, more Central American because obviously Central Americans right
next door to us, compared to the rest of the world,
but because of a lot of Venezuelans have started to
(07:07):
come in around twenty twenty two. As a result of that,
there's there's a gang called Trenda Aga and Agua is
a state within the country of Venezuela where the gang
comes from, but it is nationwide over there, and it's
one of the reasons why it's so powerful is because
(07:27):
it works hand in hand with the Maduro regime. They
kind of act like their street enforcers. If the regime
doesn't want, whatever actions that they want them to do
come back to them directly, and so they I mean,
any criminal activity you name it, extortion, kidnappings, killings, human trafficking,
human smuggling, rug smuggling, arms trafficking, all like all that
(07:48):
they've controlled the market there. And so because Venezuelans have
been leaving the country for over a decade because of
the failed state that it is, the gang members have
followed them to other countries in Latin America, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
There was a killing in Chile recently, and.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
So, of course when all of Venezuelans started leaving South
America and coming to our border, because it's open, and
because the Bide administration is allowing them into the country
the way that they are, trend that Agua members have
also come in and then fairly large numbers.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
And so.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
I was hearing about this back in October, back in
October November, and no.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
One was talking about it nationwide. No one was talking
about it.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
And the good and bad of them getting national attention
is because it had to take those two NYPD officers
in Times Square getting beat up by that camp, by
that mob, and two of those that were involved, two
of them were trend Agua members, and that's when people
started to realize, like, oh, this is like, this is real.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
This isn't just kind of rumors within the migrant community.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And don't get me wrong, the TVA members have been
in the country for a little bit now, but they're
solidifying their gains. They have now kind of adapted to
the new environment and they're kind of seeing what.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
They can get away with.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
And that's why it's very disturbing when then you combine
that with the relaxed criminal justice or law and order
policies and laws that New York City has and other
sanctuary cities, and they're seeing how much that they can
really kind of get away with. In Chicago, it's dealing
with the same thing too, with the theft rings. TVA
members have been linked to that, and then of course,
tragically the Lincoln Riley case UGA is also kind of
(09:34):
connected to that because the guy's brother, the guy who
is accused of murdering her.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
His brother is a TVA member.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And so this is a direct result of the policies
that the Biomeenstration has pursued since they won, and people
have been warning about it for a while, and of
course people were saying, oh, well, you're just fear monitoring,
you're just being racist, You're just scared of brown people,
which is no. There are some very dangerous people within
(10:00):
Latin America, and unlike MS thirteen, the thing that makes
TDA a little bit different is that, unlike MS thirteen,
they don't tattoo their faces. They don't cover themselves in tattoos.
So it's it's much harder for them to be recognized
when they turn themselves into border patrol to be processed
(10:20):
because some of them have tattoos, a lot of them don't,
and the ones that do have tattoos, it's not it
doesn't screen gang affiliation and so and then of course
you know, we don't have good relationships with Venezuela, so
we can't. It's not like we can run a background
check on them with shared law enforcement intelligence. And then
(10:40):
on top of that, recently Venezuela is flexing their muscle
and saying that you're telling the American government you cannot
deport Venezuelans back to back to their country. You can't
deport them back here because of course they don't want
they don't want DDA members back and they want it
to be America's problem. So I mean, this is just
such a wrecked line from where this wasn't an issue
(11:03):
before twenty twenty one, and now it's becoming a very
big issue. And my warning is from what I've learned
through my reporting, is that TDA is just getting started.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
We'll take a quick commercial break more with Julio on
the other side, they come here and as you pointed out,
you know, we don't talk to Venezuela, so we don't know,
and as as you pointed out, they don't want them
coming back. And then the only way to know is
if they're on interpool or with other countries prior to
come to the US or they have some sort of
criminal record here, but then we can't support them. So
(11:36):
we're stuck with these dangerous gang members.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Are they more dangerous than MS thirteen?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Would you say or you know kind of what you
know sort of we know what do we know about
like sort of the pattern of violence.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
I would say they're on par I mean, it's it
is kind of hard to be more dangerous.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Sneinister thing.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I'd say that they're at the same I'd say they're
at the same level, which is which is great, right
for for for us.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
One.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
I talked to a former Venezuelan police officer who actually
worked in at Agua and kind of saw their rise
back in the nineties UH, and he said that their
initiation ritual was to UH was to have their new
members steal a gun from a police officer and shoot
(12:22):
him with it. It's andy. They do all sorts of
kind of intimidation tactics. They do kind of the same
UH dismemberments, the same beheadings that MS thirteen kind of does.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
So the good thing with what Bukel has.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Done in Al Salvador is that he's greatly obviously he's
greatly diminished MS thirteen's capability to carry out their their
their empire, both in Al Salvador and here in the
United States. But then the problem is that TDA is
now filling those roles here in the country. So MS thirteen, yes,
this obviously can still be a problem in certain areas
within the United States, but because their power has been
(13:02):
so really diminished, TDA is kind of filling.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
In their their there that that vacuum.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Well, and one thing, you know, we have something like
border Patrol has reported, you know, one point over one
point five million encounters at the southern border according to
the most recent Tallly of numbers just through fiscal year
twenty twenty four. So you know how many of these
people are getting in amidst that kind of chaos.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
It's a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I mean, so Venezuelan that that country has represented hundreds
of thousands of people over the course of these past
few years.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And so.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Obviously not every single Venezuelan who's who's coming illegally is
a TDA member. But but just like I said, this
was the main gang in Venezuela. It was a big
gang in other countries of Latin America. And so you know,
you don't need hundreds of thousands of gang members to
cause havock, right, I mean, you only need, you know,
(14:00):
a couple hundred and these different cities to start wreaking havoc.
And so now, unfortunately, from from what my understanding, it's
it's a little bit more than a couple hundred.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
And that is partly.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Because the gang controlled a prison in Agua, and it
wasn't even like a prison. It was kind of you know,
remember how Pabula Escobar had his quote unquote prison, but
it was really just like a resort that he couldn't leave.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Yeah, that was basically.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Uh, that was basically the prison in at Agua. And
so the Venezuelan government did last year, late last year,
did this raid on the prison. No one died, there
was no firefight, and it was it's believed that the
TVA leaders negotiated that Okay, well we can leave, we
can escape, and we'll give you control of the prison
(14:46):
without any bloodshed. I mean, there was a pool, there's
a zoo, Their girlfriends and wives were basically living there.
There's even a recording studio for like to make their songs.
I mean, so that's how much power that they had.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Say that says something about the gang that you know,
the governments like, we don't really want, you know, to
mix it up with you guys.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Right, And so then the question is were their leaders
and it suspected that some of them have made their
way into the US, and so this is this is
very very concerning, and of course this is just one gang,
one major gang. There was another report recently that a
Colombian cartel member recently was apprehended within the United States
(15:31):
and you know, came in through the open border and
all that. So, yes, I would say TDA presents the
most current threat in regards to the border crisis and
the gang. But like you said, over one hundred and
sixty countries have been represented at our southern border.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
And even our northern border, and.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
You know, we don't know, we don't have great relations
with all one hundred and sixty countries that we can
perform background checks and like actually vet these people that
are coming through. So that's just a consequence of when
you have people being able to just waltz right in
and then get released and then kind of disappear into
the bureaucracy of the immigration system.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Well, and then there's the element of you know, FBI
Director for Christopher Ray recently warned that, you know, known
and suspected terrorists are using fake identification across the southern border.
So I would assume that's the same for a lot
of these gangs and cartel members as well.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Absolutely, And the really disturbing part is that some of
these people have were are known because oh well, we
actually process them back in twenty twenty two or twenty
twenty three, and then they go out and can make
crimes because they're a gang member. That doesn't even begin
to touch on the godaways, which are at their highest
levels ever in recent history at least. So even though
(16:51):
we're having these quote unquote encounters and everything, we're having
so many more people who are slipping.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Through the cracks.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And that's why we're you know, it's no coincidence that
we're seeing this explosion in illegal immigrant crime because when
you have again we have millions of people coming through
this coming through our country through this way, there's gonna
be a lot of bad apples that are able to
take advantage of that and kind of live it up.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
I mean, there's that there's that.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Migrant influencer on TikTok that that's made headlines recently, and
he's he's giving them advice on how to take advantage
of of our of our country. And sure, he's like
the only kind of public one, but I can assure
you there's a lot of people who are who are
kind of listening to him and and following his his
his advice. So, I mean, everything is just so topsy turvy.
(17:42):
It's just like, is this really what our country is
going to become? Is just people foreigners are going to
take advantage of of our way of life. And it's
you know, it seems that it's been that way for
a while. And you know, we'll see what happens with
this election this year, but we're very much, even just
on just this issue, we're on a very bad long term.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Well, you know, why wouldn't they, right when we've allowed them,
when it's been so easy for them to already manipulate
the system to take advantage of the United States, why
wouldn't they continue doing so right?
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Right?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And that's why that is a huge pull factor because
people have said, well, these people are fleeing a lot
of bad places, and yes, those are what you know,
what we call the push factors, that is, that is
what's going to push people out. But when you have
the American government, the federal government signal for years that
you can come illegally and you can get released and
(18:35):
you probably won't get deported, and if you do, we'll
be five ten years. I mean, that is going to
be a huge incentive for people that are already kind
of being pushed out internally within within their country of origin.
So yes, obviously the border hasn't been perfect, it never
will be, but the United States government is making it
ten times worse under the current leadership.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Quick break more than Venezuelan gang. You've spent a lot
of time at the Southern border, you know, on the ground.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Does the coverage that you see you know?
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I mean obviously there's people like Built Millusian who's done
a fantastic job covering the southern border. Do you think
people truly understand just from you know, watching the news,
reading the news, what's really happening at the southern border?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Two years ago, I would say no, But now I
would say yes because it is just so in their face.
I mean again, when you look at all the sanctuary
cities and what they've had to do to try to
accommodate all these people.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Because they're so beholden to their progressive policies.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
People are really seeing, oh wow, there's a lot of
new people here, and we're spending all this money on them,
and they're decreasing the quality of life, yeah overall. And
so I really think I thought that in the twenty
twenty two midterms. I thought the border VIIs immigration issue
(20:01):
was going to have a larger impact on the outcome.
But that didn't really happen. And that's because we didn't
really reach the crescendo or the tipping point until the
summer of last year, right, I mean that's when New
York City, Chicago, Denver were really saying, Hey, too many
people are coming, We're spending too much money, so therefore
we got to do We've got to different funds, we
(20:22):
gotta do all this. And people are really waking up
to oh wow, this is going this is starting to
impact me now. So and it took a while. Like
I said, this started in twenty twenty one, but we
didn't have those millions of people in the country yet,
so it had to take time to build up. And
then with end a Agua, it took them a while
to get into the country, to get a lay of
(20:42):
the land, to figure out, okay, how can we set
up our operations here?
Speaker 4 (20:46):
And now they're in their execution phage.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Well, and Julio, you're always doing really great work. Where
can people continue to follow what you're doing and to
get these kinds of updates so they.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Can subscribe to my substack mostly live. They can also
find me on x at Julio Underscore Rosas eleven.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
You know, we'll see what happens this year.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I think everyone's kind of expecting maybe not an exact
repeat of twenty twenty, but I mean we're definitely trending
in that direction as well. So I mean I hate
to kind of, you know, verbalize what we're kind of
all thinking, but the country is turning into a power
keg again, and so I suspect that I will continue
to be very busy over the next couple of years.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Well, we'll continue to have you on. You do great work,
and we appreciate you making.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Time for us.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
That was Julio Rosas.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
He's always putting himself in harm's way to bring us
the news. He's also a friend, so appreciate him making
the time every Monday and Thursday, but you can listen
throughout the week. I'll also want to think John Cassio
and my producer for putting the show together.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Until next time.
The Center for Immigration Studies recently found that the United
States now has a population of thirteen point seven million
illegal immigrants, up thirty seven percent under Joe Biden. Now
that averages about one hundred and seventy two thousand new
immigrants each month, or roughly four times the rate in
the Trump years, nearly three times the rate in the
(00:22):
Obama years. The foreign born or immigration population, both legal
and illegal, in the United States is now at a
high of fifty one point four million, fifteen point five
percent of the population. That surpasses all previous records. So
why are we allowing this? Why is Joe Biden allowing this,
(00:43):
allowing an open border, allowing these illegal aliens to come
into the United States? And who are these people? And
now because of Joe Biden, there are new threats of
gangs coming into the United States, particularly one from Venezuela.
It's called Trend de Aragua. We're gonna have Julio Rosas
come on the show to tell us about this gang,
(01:04):
what you should know, what we already know, and what
he has learned through his investigation. Julio, it's great to
have you on this show. So we were talking before
we came on and you were saying you were bummed
that you weren't able to make it to New York
for the protest against the Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and
(01:25):
Barack Obama fundraiser, and I was like, I think you're
the only person who's disappointed.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
To not be in the midst of that kind of chaos.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So, but we're fortunate to have you because you're able
to let us know what goes on at these things.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So, I mean, I'm not keen to the only thing
in that regard, I don't like going to New York
City just in general. So definitely it takes it takes
these these crazy things to kind of get me out there.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So you know, well, but you know that's you're able
to bring us you know what's happening on the ground,
which is really important because there's a lot of chaos
going on in the country and around the world, and
that's what we're going to get into today. But before
we get into some of the stuff that's happening on
the southern border and the consequences of Joe Biden's open borders,
you were at the Kyle Rittenhouse event. I believe it was,
(02:16):
was it last night or the night before, what did
you see? What was that like to cover? Kind of
break that down for us a little bit.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
So this recent one on yeah, Wednesday night, that was
at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, and that was
the second protest I've covered in relation to Kylerit and
House showing up to provide his side of the story.
The first one was in Memphis at the University of Memphis,
and in both of those, it's just funny because if
(02:46):
you would have told me all the way back in
twenty twenty, after you know, witnessing him do his self defense,
that you know, you know, or four years later, we're
going to be he's gonna be on tour and and people,
a large number of people are still going to believe
and you know, make these claims saying that he's a
(03:08):
white supremacist, he's a terrorist, he's a murderer, he's all
these things, and that's why he shouldn't be allowed to
speak on campus. I would have said that that actually
makes sense, that actually tracks given what we saw that
that year, because it's just crazy, it's really crazy that
the Writtenhouse case is really i mean, it's a litmus test,
almost an IQ test, and actually because the trial shouldn't
(03:33):
have happened, you know. But the only good thing about
it is that it laid everything out and play in
detail from start to finish. And you cannot go, you know,
you can't look at that, at that whole trial with
an open mind and not come overay with the fact that, Okay,
he shot in sell defense. You know, whether or not
he shouldn't have been there, whether or not you thought
(03:54):
he was stupid or not, Okay, fine, you know whatever.
You can think about that in whatever way you want to,
but that doesn't take away his right self defense.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And that's what happened that night.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And so going into now the college scene, which is
the incubators for the far left, it's crazy. It's crazy
seeing all these people just twist themselves into into these
mind mental gymnastic games that allows them to say, yes,
(04:26):
he shot three white people, but he's still a danger
to black people. I mean, that's what people were saying
at the University of Western Kentucky. They're saying that he
represents it's not just danger to black people, but the
Latinos and Asians and everything, even though again he's shown
that that's not what he subscribes to at all, and
so I think it's important for him to start these dialogues.
(04:51):
I would say to the WKU protesters, like to their credit,
they actually did allow him to speak at the inside
the venue. I mean, sure, kind of got at a
little rowdy, but I mean the University of Memphis crowd,
they just shouted him down. They just trying to disrupt
it as much as they can. So we'll see what
happens at Kent State University next month.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I'll be there to cover that.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
And obviously, with the history of Kent State, with the
Vietnam War and the protests and the National Guard killings,
people are getting fired up again about that, even though
those are two completely different things in my opinion. But
it just shows that this case, it didn't have to
get as controversial as it did, but it was because
of how created the twenty twenty was, but also just
(05:34):
because the mainstream media really did a disservice and reporting
the truth on what happened, and it also extended to
the trial as well. Well.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
And it's also, you know, kind of interesting for you
to be, you know, covering his sort of speaking tour
and going around because that's really kind of how you
I mean, you made a name for yourself before, but
you know, you wrote the book Fiery but mostly Peaceful.
You were on the ground in Kenosha when you know
all the chaos, you know, so you've really kind of
been following the story from the beginning. So I'm sure
(06:06):
that's interesting to kind of sort of like coming full
circle in some way, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
But so I want to shift.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
To the Southern border because I know you've been following
some gang activity that we're seeing as a result of
the Southern border. I know that the US Border Chief
Jason Owens recently said that the US has encountered migrants
from one hundred and sixty countries or more, which is outrageous,
and we're seeing a lot of gang activity as a
(06:34):
result of that break that down for us, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What are you seeing?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
What kind of gangs is Joe Biden allowing into the country,
and what sort of threat does that pose to all
of us?
Speaker 3 (06:45):
So historically, the main Latin American gangs that we have
encountered prior to the bidendministration has been the Mexican Cartels
MS thirteen, more Central American because obviously Central Americans right
next door to us, compared to the rest of the world,
but because of a lot of Venezuelans have started to
(07:07):
come in around twenty twenty two. As a result of that,
there's there's a gang called Trenda Aga and Agua is
a state within the country of Venezuela where the gang
comes from, but it is nationwide over there, and it's
one of the reasons why it's so powerful is because
(07:27):
it works hand in hand with the Maduro regime. They
kind of act like their street enforcers. If the regime
doesn't want, whatever actions that they want them to do
come back to them directly, and so they I mean,
any criminal activity you name it, extortion, kidnappings, killings, human trafficking,
human smuggling, rug smuggling, arms trafficking, all like all that
(07:48):
they've controlled the market there. And so because Venezuelans have
been leaving the country for over a decade because of
the failed state that it is, the gang members have
followed them to other countries in Latin America, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
There was a killing in Chile recently, and.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
So, of course when all of Venezuelans started leaving South
America and coming to our border, because it's open, and
because the Bide administration is allowing them into the country
the way that they are, trend that Agua members have
also come in and then fairly large numbers.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
And so.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
I was hearing about this back in October, back in
October November, and no.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
One was talking about it nationwide. No one was talking
about it.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
And the good and bad of them getting national attention
is because it had to take those two NYPD officers
in Times Square getting beat up by that camp, by
that mob, and two of those that were involved, two
of them were trend Agua members, and that's when people
started to realize, like, oh, this is like, this is real.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
This isn't just kind of rumors within the migrant community.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
And don't get me wrong, the TVA members have been
in the country for a little bit now, but they're
solidifying their gains. They have now kind of adapted to
the new environment and they're kind of seeing what.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
They can get away with.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
And that's why it's very disturbing when then you combine
that with the relaxed criminal justice or law and order
policies and laws that New York City has and other
sanctuary cities, and they're seeing how much that they can
really kind of get away with. In Chicago, it's dealing
with the same thing too, with the theft rings. TVA
members have been linked to that, and then of course,
tragically the Lincoln Riley case UGA is also kind of
(09:34):
connected to that because the guy's brother, the guy who
is accused of murdering her.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
His brother is a TVA member.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And so this is a direct result of the policies
that the Biomeenstration has pursued since they won, and people
have been warning about it for a while, and of
course people were saying, oh, well, you're just fear monitoring,
you're just being racist, You're just scared of brown people,
which is no. There are some very dangerous people within
(10:00):
Latin America, and unlike MS thirteen, the thing that makes
TDA a little bit different is that, unlike MS thirteen,
they don't tattoo their faces. They don't cover themselves in tattoos.
So it's it's much harder for them to be recognized
when they turn themselves into border patrol to be processed
(10:20):
because some of them have tattoos, a lot of them don't,
and the ones that do have tattoos, it's not it
doesn't screen gang affiliation and so and then of course
you know, we don't have good relationships with Venezuela, so
we can't. It's not like we can run a background
check on them with shared law enforcement intelligence. And then
(10:40):
on top of that, recently Venezuela is flexing their muscle
and saying that you're telling the American government you cannot
deport Venezuelans back to back to their country. You can't
deport them back here because of course they don't want
they don't want DDA members back and they want it
to be America's problem. So I mean, this is just
such a wrecked line from where this wasn't an issue
(11:03):
before twenty twenty one, and now it's becoming a very
big issue. And my warning is from what I've learned
through my reporting, is that TDA is just getting started.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
We'll take a quick commercial break more with Julio on
the other side, they come here and as you pointed out,
you know, we don't talk to Venezuela, so we don't know,
and as as you pointed out, they don't want them
coming back. And then the only way to know is
if they're on interpool or with other countries prior to
come to the US or they have some sort of
criminal record here, but then we can't support them. So
(11:36):
we're stuck with these dangerous gang members.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Are they more dangerous than MS thirteen?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Would you say or you know kind of what you
know sort of we know what do we know about
like sort of the pattern of violence.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
I would say they're on par I mean, it's it
is kind of hard to be more dangerous.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Sneinister thing.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I'd say that they're at the same I'd say they're
at the same level, which is which is great, right
for for for us.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
One.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
I talked to a former Venezuelan police officer who actually
worked in at Agua and kind of saw their rise
back in the nineties UH, and he said that their
initiation ritual was to UH was to have their new
members steal a gun from a police officer and shoot
(12:22):
him with it. It's andy. They do all sorts of
kind of intimidation tactics. They do kind of the same
UH dismemberments, the same beheadings that MS thirteen kind of does.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
So the good thing with what Bukel has.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Done in Al Salvador is that he's greatly obviously he's
greatly diminished MS thirteen's capability to carry out their their
their empire, both in Al Salvador and here in the
United States. But then the problem is that TDA is
now filling those roles here in the country. So MS thirteen, yes,
this obviously can still be a problem in certain areas
within the United States, but because their power has been
(13:02):
so really diminished, TDA is kind of filling.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
In their their there that that vacuum.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Well, and one thing, you know, we have something like
border Patrol has reported, you know, one point over one
point five million encounters at the southern border according to
the most recent Tallly of numbers just through fiscal year
twenty twenty four. So you know how many of these
people are getting in amidst that kind of chaos.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
It's a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I mean, so Venezuelan that that country has represented hundreds
of thousands of people over the course of these past
few years.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And so.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Obviously not every single Venezuelan who's who's coming illegally is
a TDA member. But but just like I said, this
was the main gang in Venezuela. It was a big
gang in other countries of Latin America. And so you know,
you don't need hundreds of thousands of gang members to
cause havock, right, I mean, you only need, you know,
(14:00):
a couple hundred and these different cities to start wreaking havoc.
And so now, unfortunately, from from what my understanding, it's
it's a little bit more than a couple hundred.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
And that is partly.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Because the gang controlled a prison in Agua, and it
wasn't even like a prison. It was kind of you know,
remember how Pabula Escobar had his quote unquote prison, but
it was really just like a resort that he couldn't leave.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Yeah, that was basically.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Uh, that was basically the prison in at Agua. And
so the Venezuelan government did last year, late last year,
did this raid on the prison. No one died, there
was no firefight, and it was it's believed that the
TVA leaders negotiated that Okay, well we can leave, we
can escape, and we'll give you control of the prison
(14:46):
without any bloodshed. I mean, there was a pool, there's
a zoo, Their girlfriends and wives were basically living there.
There's even a recording studio for like to make their songs.
I mean, so that's how much power that they had.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Say that says something about the gang that you know,
the governments like, we don't really want, you know, to
mix it up with you guys.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Right, And so then the question is were their leaders
and it suspected that some of them have made their
way into the US, and so this is this is
very very concerning, and of course this is just one gang,
one major gang. There was another report recently that a
Colombian cartel member recently was apprehended within the United States
(15:31):
and you know, came in through the open border and
all that. So, yes, I would say TDA presents the
most current threat in regards to the border crisis and
the gang. But like you said, over one hundred and
sixty countries have been represented at our southern border.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
And even our northern border, and.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
You know, we don't know, we don't have great relations
with all one hundred and sixty countries that we can
perform background checks and like actually vet these people that
are coming through. So that's just a consequence of when
you have people being able to just waltz right in
and then get released and then kind of disappear into
the bureaucracy of the immigration system.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Well, and then there's the element of you know, FBI
Director for Christopher Ray recently warned that, you know, known
and suspected terrorists are using fake identification across the southern border.
So I would assume that's the same for a lot
of these gangs and cartel members as well.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Absolutely, And the really disturbing part is that some of
these people have were are known because oh well, we
actually process them back in twenty twenty two or twenty
twenty three, and then they go out and can make
crimes because they're a gang member. That doesn't even begin
to touch on the godaways, which are at their highest
levels ever in recent history at least. So even though
(16:51):
we're having these quote unquote encounters and everything, we're having
so many more people who are slipping.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
Through the cracks.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And that's why we're you know, it's no coincidence that
we're seeing this explosion in illegal immigrant crime because when
you have again we have millions of people coming through
this coming through our country through this way, there's gonna
be a lot of bad apples that are able to
take advantage of that and kind of live it up.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
I mean, there's that there's that.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Migrant influencer on TikTok that that's made headlines recently, and
he's he's giving them advice on how to take advantage
of of our of our country. And sure, he's like
the only kind of public one, but I can assure
you there's a lot of people who are who are
kind of listening to him and and following his his
his advice. So, I mean, everything is just so topsy turvy.
(17:42):
It's just like, is this really what our country is
going to become? Is just people foreigners are going to
take advantage of of our way of life. And it's
you know, it seems that it's been that way for
a while. And you know, we'll see what happens with
this election this year, but we're very much, even just
on just this issue, we're on a very bad long term.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Well, you know, why wouldn't they, right when we've allowed them,
when it's been so easy for them to already manipulate
the system to take advantage of the United States, why
wouldn't they continue doing so right?
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Right?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And that's why that is a huge pull factor because
people have said, well, these people are fleeing a lot
of bad places, and yes, those are what you know,
what we call the push factors, that is, that is
what's going to push people out. But when you have
the American government, the federal government signal for years that
you can come illegally and you can get released and
(18:35):
you probably won't get deported, and if you do, we'll
be five ten years. I mean, that is going to
be a huge incentive for people that are already kind
of being pushed out internally within within their country of origin.
So yes, obviously the border hasn't been perfect, it never
will be, but the United States government is making it
ten times worse under the current leadership.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Quick break more than Venezuelan gang. You've spent a lot
of time at the Southern border, you know, on the ground.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Does the coverage that you see you know?
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I mean obviously there's people like Built Millusian who's done
a fantastic job covering the southern border. Do you think
people truly understand just from you know, watching the news,
reading the news, what's really happening at the southern border?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Two years ago, I would say no, But now I
would say yes because it is just so in their face.
I mean again, when you look at all the sanctuary
cities and what they've had to do to try to
accommodate all these people.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Because they're so beholden to their progressive policies.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
People are really seeing, oh wow, there's a lot of
new people here, and we're spending all this money on them,
and they're decreasing the quality of life, yeah overall. And
so I really think I thought that in the twenty
twenty two midterms. I thought the border VIIs immigration issue
(20:01):
was going to have a larger impact on the outcome.
But that didn't really happen. And that's because we didn't
really reach the crescendo or the tipping point until the
summer of last year, right, I mean that's when New
York City, Chicago, Denver were really saying, Hey, too many
people are coming, We're spending too much money, so therefore
we got to do We've got to different funds, we
(20:22):
gotta do all this. And people are really waking up
to oh wow, this is going this is starting to
impact me now. So and it took a while. Like
I said, this started in twenty twenty one, but we
didn't have those millions of people in the country yet,
so it had to take time to build up. And
then with end a Agua, it took them a while
to get into the country, to get a lay of
(20:42):
the land, to figure out, okay, how can we set
up our operations here?
Speaker 4 (20:46):
And now they're in their execution phage.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Well, and Julio, you're always doing really great work. Where
can people continue to follow what you're doing and to
get these kinds of updates so they.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Can subscribe to my substack mostly live. They can also
find me on x at Julio Underscore Rosas eleven.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
You know, we'll see what happens this year.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I think everyone's kind of expecting maybe not an exact
repeat of twenty twenty, but I mean we're definitely trending
in that direction as well. So I mean I hate
to kind of, you know, verbalize what we're kind of
all thinking, but the country is turning into a power
keg again, and so I suspect that I will continue
to be very busy over the next couple of years.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Well, we'll continue to have you on. You do great work,
and we appreciate you making.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Time for us.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
That was Julio Rosas.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
He's always putting himself in harm's way to bring us
the news. He's also a friend, so appreciate him making
the time every Monday and Thursday, but you can listen
throughout the week. I'll also want to think John Cassio
and my producer for putting the show together.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Until next time.
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