Trump DHS slams more ‘sob story’ reporting after Tren de Aragua gang members send SOS signal
The Trump Department of Homeland Security is slamming Reuters for what it is calling "sob story" reporting about illegal gang members after the outlet reported on suspected Tren de Aragua members forming an "S-O-S" sign at a Texas detention center.
The DHS released a statement on Wednesday saying that "the mainstream media’s latest attempt at a criminal gang sob story includes a self-admitted member of Tren de Aragua" and that "the real story here is that the previous administration was releasing gang members into American communities."
Tren de Aragua – also known as "TdA" – is a brutal international criminal group linked to Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. The group is linked to some of the most high profile migrant crime cases in recent years including the killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and the seizure of an entire apartment building in Aurora, Colorado. The Trump State Department has declared Tren de Aragua a "foreign terrorist organization."
Reuters reported on Wednesday that 31 Venezuelan illegals and suspected TdA members formed an SOS sign in the yard of the Bluebonnet illegal immigrant detention center in Anson, Texas.
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According to the outlet, the men at the facility are facing possible deportation and had been set to be deported to the high-security Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador before a judge’s ruling delayed that fate. Despite this, Reuters wrote that the "Venezuelan detainees in Texas fear the Trump administration will send them to El Salvador's notorious CECOT maximum security prison."
The outlet identified two of the migrants in the detention center as Diover Millan Leon, 24, and Jeferson Escalona Hernandez, 19. Reuters interviewed Escalona Hernandez, who claimed, "I fear for my life here" and "they're making false accusations about me."
Reuters also reported Millan Leon’s wife saying, "he is desperate" and that he "sat down and looked at the sky and asked God to get him out of there soon."
DHS pushed back against this characterization of the situation, identifying both men as confirmed members of Tren de Aragua.
The statement said that Escalona Hernandez is a "self-admitted Tren de Aragua member" who illegally entered the U.S. in 2024. DHS said that the Biden administration "released this gang member into our country" and that he was later arrested for felony evading arrest with a vehicle and put in a Denton County, Texas, jail.
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Meanwhile, DHS said that Millan Leon is a documented member of Tren de Aragua who illegally entered the U.S. on an unknown date and location. The department said that U.S. Border Patrol arrested Millan Leon on May 3, 2023, near Brownsville, Texas, but he was given a notice to appear and released on his own recognizance. Nearly two years later, ICE officers operating under the Trump administration arrested Millan Leon in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on March 12, 2025.
Commenting on the story, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that "Tren De Aragua is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth," adding that "they rape, maim, and murder for sport."
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"The previous administration released these gang members into our communities," she went on. "President Trump and Secretary Noem have ended catch and release and will not allow criminal gangs to terrorize American citizens."
McLaughlin called Reuters’ reporting "irresponsible," asking: "Why do they continue to peddle the sob stories of these gang members but ignore their American victims?"
Fox News Digital reached out to Reuters for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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