{"id":22643,"date":"2020-03-17T14:13:06","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T18:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=22643"},"modified":"2020-03-17T14:13:09","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T18:13:09","slug":"teaming-up-to-prosecute-ms-13-means-little-without-cooperation-on-border-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2020\/03\/17\/teaming-up-to-prosecute-ms-13-means-little-without-cooperation-on-border-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaming up to Prosecute MS-13 Means Little Without Cooperation on Border Security"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Last week, a federal grand jury in California indicted<\/a> 17 alleged MS-13 gang members on federal racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder, assault, and weapons charges. The indictments, which were the result of a joint investigation conducted by state and federal officials, underscore how important cooperation is to securing justice for victims of crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another example came in late December when federal and local law enforcement officials\u00a0detailed charges<\/a> against nearly 100 MS-13 members and associates in Long Island, New York. Like California, New York State politicians have embraced radical immigration policies that have fed the growth of MS-13 and other criminal gangs on Long Island. In fact, the resettlement of a large number of Central American unaccompanied alien minors has resulted in more than two dozen murders by MS-13 gang members since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Collaboration\nbetween law enforcement agencies has helped to secure victories in the battle\nagainst MS-13, but the war will be lost if there is no cooperation on securing\nthe border across which many gangs enter the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u201cFrom Oct through Feb, Border Patrol agents have encountered and arrested 256 gang members. These groups are a persistent threat to the US and a source of dangerous crime in your communities. MS-13, 18th Street, Surenos, and Paisas are a few of those we\u2019ve encountered,\u201d tweeted<\/a> U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney S. Scott on March 10. A 27-year veteran of the Border Patrol, Scott was named<\/a> to lead the CBP in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A cursory\nreview of recent CBP news releases demonstrates MS-13 and other gang members\ncontinue to attempt illegal border crossings on a regular basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On March 5, 2020, Border Patrol Agents and local law enforcement in Alpine, Texas, apprehended Irving Aldemar<\/a>, who claimed he was from Guatemala but it was later determined he was from El Salvador and also an MS-13 gang member. Days earlier, agents in Calexico, California, arrested<\/a> an admitted MS-13 member with a long criminal history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February, agents in California\u2019s El Centro sector detained<\/a> an illegal alien whom they learned was a 33-year-old Guatemalan national and self-admitted MS-13 gang member with an extensive immigration and criminal record.\u00a0Two weeks later, agents in the same sector came across<\/a> another admitted MS-13 member, this time a 40-year-old Salvadoran national with a long criminal history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the most\nchilling of the recent arrests of those affiliated with MS-13 occurred last\nweek in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is a sanctuary county. <\/p>\n\n\n\n