MO Attorney General Andrew Bailey Joins Coalition Defending President Trump’s Deportation of Violent Venezuelan Gang Members

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has joined a 25-state coalition in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit supporting President Donald Trump’s use of executive authority to deport members of Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

The brief argues that the President is operating within the full scope of his constitutional and statutory authority, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution and the Alien Enemies Act, to remove hostile foreign nationals.

States participating in the brief outline the impact the gang has had on communities nationwide, from murder and human trafficking to cartel-linked operations. The brief also highlights that the gang’s spread represents not just a domestic security threat, but part of a broader campaign of hybrid warfare backed by Venezuela’s Maduro regime.

Missouri is joined in the brief by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.