Breibart News revealed that the Venezuelan regime led by Nicolás Maduro is releasing prisoners - including some convicted of murder, rape and extortion - in order to send them in migrant caravans traveling to the U.S. southern border.
The article claims that an unnamed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source saw a Department of Homeland Security (NHS) report received by Border Patrol that "instructs agents to look for Venezuelan inmates released to enter the United States."
Criminals sent by Maduro
The information received by Breibart does not indicate whether the released inmates were traveling together - in a group - or each on their own. However, it does confirm that the other migrants in the caravans knew that many of the Venezuelans present were dangerous convicts.
There is doubt as to whether the release of the criminals could be an intentional geopolitical move by the Venezuelan dictatorship to affect U.S. national security. The anonymous source pointed out the difficulty involved in "apprehending someone" without knowing if they have committed a crime:
Unless we apprehend someone who voluntarily tells us that they have committed a violent crime in Venezuela, we can only guess and it doesn't work that way.
Without effective diplomatic relations between the two countries, access to criminal databases in Venezuela does not exist. Identifying Venezuelans who have criminal records in their country of origin is virtually impossible.
According to CBP, since the end of 2021 more than 130,000 Venezuelan immigrants have entered the country illegally. This represents an increase of nearly 3,000% compared to the less than 5,000 entering in 2020. Most of the Venezuelans who turn themselves in daily along the U.S.-Mexico border are released, as they arrive seeking asylum and there is no record of their specific location.
The fact that Maduro's regime is releasing prisoners in order to send them into the country is of great concern when given the history of Venezuelan gangs migrating and wreaking havoc in South American countries. This is the case of the Aragua Train - a dangerous criminal organization made up of some 5,000 criminals - which now operates in countries such as Peru, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador.
Similarities with the Cuban regime and warning from Trump
In 1980, Fidel Castro authorized Cubans living in the United States to look for their relatives and friends who wanted to leave Cuba by boat. This movement known as the "Mariel Exodus" has its origin in the assault on the Peruvian embassy in Havana by a group of civilians that caused chaos on the island.
Castro set the condition that the American ships arriving at the port of Mariel had to also take with them the "antisocial" people the government had on its lists: common prisoners, many of them dangerous and with mental problems. It was considered a dirty play on the part of the Cuban dictatorship that due to the migratory wave pointed out that most of the dissidents were "undesirables" who had been considered a "danger to society."
Cuban-born former diplomat Alberto Miguel Fernandez said on Twitter that the tactic reported by Breitbart "would be, precisely, a repetition by Venezuela of Fidel Castro's cruel and sadistic tactic of 1980 in Mariel."
This would be, precisely, a repeat by #Venezuela of Fidel Castro's cruel and sadistic tactic from 1980 in Mariel. Makes sense given the level of Cuban direct influence over the #Maduro regime.https://t.co/7mc5iBaSPb
- Alberto Miguel Fernandez (@AlbertoMiguelF5) September 18, 2022
Troy Nehls (R) commented on Twitter that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed "that Venezuela empties its jails and sends violent criminals to our southern border." Nehls added, "President Trump warned us about this years ago."
🚨BREAKING🚨
DHS confirms that Venezuela empties prisons and sends violent criminals to our southern border.
President Trump warned us about this years ago.
- Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) September 18, 2022
