The South Side of Chicago is becoming overrun with Venezuelan migrants, including members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang, according to locals.
Members of the Chicago-based street patrol and violence prevention program Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change recently warned the New York Post that the city will “go up in flames” when local gangs and Tren de Aragua clash.
‘Democrats are selling us down the river.’
Tyrone Muhammad, ECCSC founder and CEO, is a former gang member who spent two decades in prison for murder, the Post reported. Now, Muhammad is a social change advocate who has “taught self-development programs aimed at reducing recidivism, such as behavior modification, social and emotional training, critical thinking, job interviewing skills, budgeting, financing, and resume writing,” according to his organization’s website.
Muhammad, 53, recently told the Post, “It is impossible to release gang members and criminals into our country through the borders and broken walls and infiltrate them in our community that’s already impoverished and broken.”
He also warned, “When the black gangs here get fed up with the illegalities and criminal activities of these migrants or noncitizens, the city of Chicago is going to go up in flames, and there will be nothing the National Guard or the government can do about it when the bloodshed hits the streets. It’ll be blacks against migrants.”
Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization, has rapidly expanded its presence in the U.S. in recent years, including reportedly taking over some apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, Blaze News previously reported.
Sources told the Post that Tren de Aragua members residing in the Chicago area are armed and brazen. The South Side neighborhood has been home to many gangs, including Gangster Disciples, Black P Stones, Vice Lords, Latin Kings, and Satan Disciples. With TDA spilling into the area as well, some are concerned about potential growing conflict.
Many Venezuelan migrants, including gang members, have been residing at the Standard Club shelter in downtown Chicago. The shelter’s employees told the Post that there has not been any criminal activity at the property and insisted that TDA members are not living there.
However, Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by Muhammad and Terry Newsome, a Chicago activist, revealed 720 police incident reports concerning sex trafficking, child pornography, drugs, carjackings, weapons, and spousal violence at the location over the last 12 months, the Post reported.
‘They be moving in our own territory and robbing people, but they don’t get arrested like we do.’
South Side residents, including gang members, told the paper they are angry and frustrated with the city for its handling of the new immigrant arrivals.
David, a Gangster Disciples member, stated, “The real issue is that America has allowed gangs to enter our country.”
“Gangs that they would consider ex-terrorist groups. They let terrorist groups into our country!” he shouted.
Zacc Massie — whom the Post described as a street leader who recently got out of prison — said, “There’s been a lot going on with [the migrant gangs] that nobody’s even hearing about.”
“They be moving in our own territory and robbing people, but they don’t get arrested like we do,” Massie remarked. “I actually talked to one on the translator app. He told me all the things he got going on; how they helped him get a car, an apartment, [EBT] card, all this stuff. They giving them thousands, we get maybe $400 a month. And they don’t even have Social Security numbers!”
Corey Rogers, a Black P Stone member, added to the Post, “What bothers me is that the Venezuelans are united.”
“The black gangs are too divided, and they take each other down,” Rogers explained.
Muhammad formed Ex-Cons for Trump after he felt Democrats had failed inner-city residents.
“It’s not so much Trump himself; it’s that the Democrats are selling us down the river,” he told the Post. “The bougie [upwardly mobile] blacks might like Kamala Harris, but she isn’t going to do anything for us.”
Rev. Corey Brooks echoed similar sentiments to the paper about failed Democratic policies: “Chicago is a blue city and Illinois is a blue state, but people are starting to wake up. It’s not about the person; it’s about the policies. I’ve seen what’s happening with my own eyes when it comes to the migrant criminal gangs, and it’s very concerning.”
The Chicago mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment from the Post.
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Politics, Tren de aragua, Tda, Chicago, Illinois, Gangs, Gang violence, Ex-cons for community and social change, Immigration crisis, Immigration, Open borders, Tyrone muhammad, Crime