Most of you likely remember the horrific story of Jocelyn Nungaray, the 12-year-old Houston girl who was lured away by two illegal migrants, gang raped, and murdered, with her body being unceremoniously dumped into a bayou. The two migrants suspected of the horrendous crime, Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, were later taken into custody. These terrible stories are all too common, no matter what Kamala Harris and the Democrats try to tell you, but this case has taken an unexpected turn which makes it all the more enraging, assuming that's even possible. Ongoing investigations have revealed that the alleged perpetrators showed all the signs of being associates of Tren de Aragua, the notorious Venezuelan prison gang. And yet they were both encountered at the Southern border and then released into the country under Joe Biden's open border policies. (NY Post)

The illegal migrants charged with brutally murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray may have ties to the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, authorities believe.

Search warrants issued late last month reveal that investigators from the Houston police and Harris County District Attorney’s Office are probing the TikTok accounts of Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, KPRC2 reported.

On one account, investigators allegedly identified a series of emojis — a ninja, cross sword and a building — that gang members are known to use to identify themselves. There was also a message that investigators believe was intended for members both inside and outside the US that “involved TdA gang membership.”

Granted, the members of TdA don't display their gang affiliations as openly and colorfully as some other gangs such as MS-13. But the warning signs were there to see for those with experience in such things. Ramos and Martinez used a variety of code words and symbols in their social media interactions. These include crossed swords and ninjas. They also sport gang tattoos, though not typically on their faces and heads as MS-13 members are wont to do. So how was all of this missed during their initial investigation?

Texas Governor Greg Abbott had already added TdA to the state's list of known terrorist organizations. That should have resulted in both of the men being immediately detained and, if possible, deported back to Venezuela. In either event, they never should have been set free to roam the interior of the United States. This is the same gang that was responsible for overrunning the Gateway Hotel in El Paso, where the police had been called to respond to reports of violent crime more than 700 times before the facility was finally shut down.

This problem isn't unique to Houston or the state of Texas. Organized groups of TdA members have been found setting up shop in at least a dozen large American cities. Wherever they turn up, increased incidents of sex trafficking and gang activity have been reported. Perhaps the most frustrating part of all of this is that none of this is new information. Our intelligence agencies have been monitoring increases in imported gang activity for years and the gang members have been profiled. But particularly since Biden took office, the numbers have simply been overwhelming. Our limited border enforcement resources have been stretched far past the breaking point already. For every gangbanger we manage to catch and detain or deport, dozens more arrive to take their place.

In other words, all of this was preventable, or at least most of it was. But the Democrats have been so eager to welcome all of the "new arrivals" that sorting out the truly terrible actors from the crowds of largely anonymous faces sneaking across the border is a herculean task. What do Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have to say to people like Jocelyn Nungaray's mother? Will they tell her that her daughter's life was just part of the cost of doing business and that they are "protecting democracy?" Something tells me that such a pitch will come as cold comfort to the families of those who have been lost.