Biden administration greenlit refugee applications for members of bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang: report

Kevin Grigsby, the head of refugee operations at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told officials in an internal email that members of Tren de Aragua had been approved for refugee status and made it to the U.S. before a different agency spotted tattoos indicating gang membership. They were then stopped from entering, according to The Washington Times.

"Unfortunately, we did not ask about the tattoos during our adjudication or did not identify that the tattoos asked about were consistent with gang membership," he wrote in a Sept. 16 email, the Times reported.

"The potential entry of suspected gang members into the United States represents a serious public safety concern that we need to make sure we are being vigilant against."

Fox News Digital has reached out to USCIS for comment.

In a statement, DHS said the identities emerged as part of an ongoing rescreening operation to tackle the gang. 

The agency said that those confirmed or suspected of being gang members will be either referred for prosecution or placed into expedited removal - a deportation process that allows for the quick removal of illegal immigrants.

The statement stressed that those identified in the rescreening "include those already in custody, potential victims or witnesses who are not themselves suspected of being TdA members, and others who may not have any involvement in TdA at all."