The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Hays County Sheriff's Office said they arrested more than 40 people, including minors, who they believe are connected to the Venezuelan transnational gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).
The sheriff's office said the arrests happened early Tuesday morning near Dripping Springs, off of Nutty Brown Road. DPS obtained a search warrant for a Hays County residence where the FBI learned of a potential gathering. DPS said it had been investigating the gang for more than a year.
" This is something that they've been investigating for a while," Hays County Sheriff Anthony Hipolito said. " From everything I've been told, everything went smooth, and these were all pretty bad dudes."
The Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization on Inauguration Day and deported hundreds of people believed to be involved in the gang in March.
The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the Trump administration's use of a checklist to remove suspected Venezuelan gang members and transfer them to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
The checklist is part of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was last used during World War II and is best known for its role in Japanese internment camps in the western U.S. Advocates say the checklist is flawed, and family members and attorneys of those accused across the country deny their loved ones have any affiliation with the gang.
Raynell Martinez, director of the Austin Venezuelan Association, said she's concerned about how the situation is being handled nationally and hopes that each person arrested in Hays County will have their cases evaluated separately.
"People that have the same nationality will live next to each other and will help each other," she said in Spanish. "But we can't say that because they help one another that they all belong to a gang."
DPS worked alongside the Hays County Sheriff's Office, FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security to obtain the search warrant before the arrests took place.
The Department of Public Safety said narcotics were seized as part of the arrests but did not share if charges had been filed.
"State and federal prosecutors will evaluate potential charges based on evidence obtained during the search warrant and subsequent investigation," a press release from DPS read. "This case is currently under investigation. More details will be released as they become available."
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