Multiple law enforcement agencies took part in a raid on alleged members of Tren De Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, on April 1 in Dripping Springs.
According to a Texas Department of Public Safety press release, the FBI, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), DPS, San Antonio Police Department and other agencies, including the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, raided a home in Dripping Springs. The raid resulted in the arrests of 40 individuals, including some minors, who the FBI and DPS are accusing of being tied to Tren De Aragua, a gang that President Donald Trump declared as a terrorist organization.
“Early Tuesday morning, the Hays Co. Sheriff’s Office and DPS, working with the FBI, ICE, Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations, established sufficient cause to obtain a search warrant for a residence in Hays Co., which was executed by DPS’ Special Response Team,” DPS wrote in their press release.
In a Feb. 3 email to The Star, Hays County Sheriff Lt. Clint Pulpan said the sheriff’s office “does not engage in immigration enforcement actions such as raids or mass arrests” because those fall under federal jurisdiction.
In a Facebook post on April 3, Hays County Sheriff Anthony Hipolito said that his office will continue to assist with any criminal investigation in the county.
“We have a duty to protect, a duty to keep our citizens safe, and a duty to uphold the Constitution,” Hipolito wrote in his post. “If you are ok with Venezuelan gang members committing crimes in Hays County, I can not help you. It will not be tolerated here whether you are a legal resident or not.”
According to a press release by Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, the sheriff’s office only provided a liaison officer.
Becerra further wrote in the release that the Hays County Sheriff’s Office is not investigating the incident, instead, the FBI is in charge of the investigation. He also said that no Hays County law enforcement agency in the county is participating in the investigation.
Local activism group Mano Amiga denounced the raid. A press release emailed to The Star from the group said the raid raised questions about “due process, transparency and the human impact of large-scale enforcement operations.”
Mano Amiga’s press release further claimed that police actions like the raid are “launched without adequate regard for the consequences they leave behind.”
“What people don’t always see is the quiet aftermath of these raids — the children waiting at school who don’t know their parent has been taken, the elders left without a caregiver, the families scrambling for legal help with no clear information,” Nataly Avendano, immigrant equity director for Mano Amiga said in the release.
The group also expressed concern that minors were involved in the arrest as well.
“We should all be alarmed that minors were among those taken in this operation,” Alyssa Garza, public health and safety director at Mano Amiga, said in the release. “These moments don’t just traumatize individual children — they shape an entire generation’s relationship with the institutions around them.”
In their release, Mano Amiga said they would continue to advocate for local, state and federal officials to protect the rights of non-citizens in the country.
“This is about more than just one raid. It’s about the ongoing pattern of criminalizing immigrants and people of color in the name of ‘security,’” the group said in their release. “It’s about the lack of transparency, the trauma inflicted and the growing need to redefine what safety actually means.”
The FBI did not respond to additional questions from The Star.
“I will be reaching out to the federal agencies that were present in Hays County to gather more information, so I can provide our concerned residents with a clearer and more transparent explanation of the situation,” Becerra said in his release.
This is a developing story. The University Star will provide updates as they become available.
