During his first State of the Union, President Trump committed a cardinal sin in the eyes of those who deify the class of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as minors – he mentioned MS-13.
“For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They have allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives,” said the president in highlighting victims of the brutal El Savadoran criminal syndicate.
After urging Congress to close the “deadly loopholes that have allowed MS-13, and other criminals, to break into our country,” he rolled out his plan to give amnesty to 1.8 million illegal immigrants.
But for the amnesty-only crowd (aka, the Democratic Party) a call to secure the borders had now become a racist attack on immigrants.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), for example, asked his Twitter followers “why is that whenever the President speaks of immigration it always seems to be in the context of gang members and murderers?”
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who knows as a former prosecutor the violent nature of criminal gangs, told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that “to equate Dreamers with MS-13 and criminal gangs was completely irresponsible.”
The responses from open border lawmakers and special interests demonstrate that rhetoric has replaced logic.
No one has said all illegal immigrants were gang members any more than it is assumed all Italians are members of the Mafia. And recent law enforcement operations expose the fact MS-13 members are gaining entry to the U.S. along with other illegal immigrants.
As part of stepped up efforts to dismantle MS-13, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 267 alleged MS-13 members in the U.S. and El Salvador.
Of the gang members arrested in the U.S. during “Operation Raging Bull,” 198 were foreign nationals, including 193 illegal aliens 64 of whom entered as unaccompanied alien minors (UAMs), according to the FBI.
Cries of racism and emotional defenses of these illegal aliens makes good TV, but is not good for public safety, particularly for those who live in the same immigrant communities from which MS-13 recruits.
According to the Justice Department, they actively recruit members, including middle- and high-school students, from communities with a large number of immigrants from El Salvador.
They also tend to be the victims too.
In early January, an MS-13 member pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to racketeering conspiracy involving the murder of a 15-year-old boy. And, in December, another MS-13 member pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy involving the murder of a 15-year-old boy in East Boston.
Despite the gains made by the Trump administration through increased enforcement operations, the violence along the East Coast spiked in 2017.
In Virginia, MS-13 gang-related murder rose 166 percent last year, while in New York, a directive sent from MS-13 leaders in El Salvador spurred an incidents of violence, including at schools where the gang likes to recruit.
6 Comments
MS-13 members kill, rape, and run drugs. They are a menace. A ton of them are illegals. What is the issue with cracking down on illegals who are gang members of a vicious murdering gang?
Obama and the Dems did nothing to stop MS-13 for 8 years because the Demoncrats use MS-13 to carry out hits (Seth Rich), sell guns, run human trafficking, and prostitution. Yes, the Demoncrats are that corrupt.
There was a recent story about how New York City is considering charging tolls to drive in downtown areas at certain times of the day to relieve congestion. One might think that maybe calling for a halt to the flood of immigrants both to that city and this country might help the situation. But no matter what benefit may accrue to this country, including slowing environmental degradation, less crowded streets and freeways, raising workers wages by making employers compete for the labor of our own citizens, the answer is always no, the interests of foreigners come first.
It’s why a lot of people have abandoned the Democratic party. We can always change things like tax rates and social issues, but we can’t change a population of half a billion people which is where we are heading with no changes made to immigration policy.
Good comment, Leland.
MS-13 is a REAL danger. Their members aspire to be as brutal as ISIS and Palestinians and want to establish territories in the US and elsewhere where non-members will fear to tread. They are succeeding royally, at least on Long Island and apparently in Boston, as well. They must be apprehended, imprisoned and deported AFTER they have served their sentences. They are already decorated with visible tattoos so their reentry into the US is made more difficult, but not impossible, at least not without the wall. Viva the wall.
I believe that Trump will have MS-13 classified as a terrorist group, and have members arrested and sent to Gitmo. Trump has done more to hurt this awful gang in one year than Traitor 44 did in 8 years. MAGA! #ObamaGate #GreatAwakening #TheStormisHere and #JudgementDayisComing