The FBI has issued a chilling new warning: officials within Venezuela’s socialist regime are “likely using” members of the violent Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang as tools to destabilize the United States and other countries across the Western Hemisphere.

According to a senior Trump administration official who spoke with Fox News, the Bureau has assessed that the Maduro regime is leveraging the gang’s extensive criminal network in a coordinated effort to sow chaos in nations critical of Caracas—potentially including targeted violence inside the United States itself.

“The FBI assesses that some Venezuelan government officials are likely using Tren de Aragua members as proxies for the Maduro regime,” the source said, citing unclassified portions of an internal review. The goal, the assessment warns, is to threaten, abduct, or kill members of the Venezuelan diaspora who have spoken out against the dictatorship.

The timeline is also alarming. The FBI reportedly believes that within six to 18 months, Maduro-backed operatives may attempt to deploy gang affiliates inside U.S. borders to carry out acts of intimidation or worse.

The gang is already a focus of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. In March, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to fast-track the deportation of suspected Tren de Aragua members, many of whom entered the country illegally during the Biden era. But those deportations have drawn fierce resistance from federal judges in progressive strongholds like New York and Colorado.

One federal judge, Charlotte Sweeney, claimed in court this week that the U.S. is not at war and thus cannot invoke wartime powers to deport foreign nationals under the 1798 law—despite clear evidence of cross-border violence, trafficking, and cartel infiltration. Another judge, Alvin Hellerstein, suggested the administration must offer more individual justification for removals, even in the case of known gang affiliations.

The legal battles highlight a deep division between the Trump administration and left-leaning federal courts over how to handle foreign criminals embedded in America’s immigration system. While President Trump argues the use of the Alien Enemies Act is a necessary step to neutralize transnational threats, activist judges continue to prioritize procedural delays over national security.

The White House also faces pressure from abroad. Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly demanded the return of TdA members deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison—a maximum-security complex housing gang leaders and terrorists. Maduro has described the deportations as “kidnappings” and pledged to bring the criminals home.

“We will not rest until the Venezuelans who have been kidnapped and sent to jail in El Salvador return to their homeland,” he said in March, confirming his regime’s political investment in the fate of these violent operatives.

But Trump has shown no signs of backing down. In early April, the Supreme Court narrowly sided with the administration in a 5–4 ruling that allowed deportations of suspected TdA affiliates to proceed. Trump has since vowed to expand the program, citing intelligence that shows links between the gang and hostile foreign actors—including Venezuelan officials, cartels, and even Chinese-backed financial networks.

Meanwhile, the DOJ has filed the first-ever RICO charges against 27 Tren de Aragua members, signaling the administration’s intent to treat the gang not just as an immigration issue—but as an organized criminal enterprise with foreign backing.

Despite media spin, the stakes are now higher than ever. The FBI’s assessment confirms what many in the Trump administration have warned for years: America is being targeted by hostile regimes using gang violence as a form of asymmetric warfare. And if the courts continue to interfere, the consequences could be catastrophic.

Trump isn’t just fighting a gang. He’s fighting a foreign-backed network of state-sponsored terror operating inside our own borders. The only question is whether our own judges will finally get out of the way.