Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)

-Big Quacho

Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the country.

• Most MS-13 gang members are illegal aliens from El Salvador, but also include nationals from Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and other Central and South American countries.
• With over 10,000 members, MS-13 gangs can often be identified by clothing or tattoos incorporating MS-13 or the number 13.
• Gang members have attacked and threatened law enforcement and committed a sting of ,rapes, assaults, break-ins, auto thefts, extortions, and frauds across the U.S.

MS-13 is one of several illegal alien gangs in the Dallas area.

We now know that some gangs are creating a “good neighbor” policy with other Latino street gangs in Dallas, such as Tango Blast, which is a combination of the Texas Syndicate, Mexican Mafia, and Latin Kings gangs. These dangerous gangs have been joining forces in manpower and drug trafficking, realizing that they can succeed more in their illegal activities if they join forces than by the continued blood rivals.

• Unfortunately, incarcerated gang members have been reorganizing in prison and once released, they band together to handle the security and sales for the drug cartels.
  

Gang members have long been engaged in retail drug trafficking, including cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin. As I have mentioned previously,

• Dallas serves as a major drug distribution hub for national drug trafficking, by major Mexican trafficking organizations.
• In 2005, law enforcement officials estimated the illegal narcotic business in Dallas at roughly $10 million a day.
• The fallout of violence along the US/Mexico border in Laredo is in part a consequence of the lucrative drug trade in Dallas as drug cartels and gangs fight for I-35, also labeled the Drug Corridor by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In response to the rising gang violence in Dallas and across our nation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched Operation Community Shield in February 2005 after a national threat assessment identified MS-13 as one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the country.

Nationwide, ICE arrested 359 MS-13 members and associates, including 10 clique leaders in the first phase of Operation Community Shield. Building on this initial success, ICE extended Operation Community Shield to target all illegal alien gangs, netting about 2,390 arrests from roughly 240 street gangs, including about 920 from the violent street gang MS-13.

Since the crackdown began, much of the gang’s leadership has left Dallas. Additionally, since February 24, 2006, ICE and Dallas police have conducted joint missions of Operation Community Shield, resulting in the arrest of 44 Dallas-area gang members.

I am proud of the Dallas Police Department’s dedication and commitment to ending gang violence as they worked with ICE to crackdown and dismantle violent street gangs in the Dallas area.

Expeditious Removal for Illegal Salvadorans
It is a travesty that illegal alien gang members are here in the first place and an even greater travesty that they are often released after apprehension due to legal loopholes. Currently, an 18-year-old court order affords Salvadorans full deportation process, thus undermining DHS’ authority to apply expedited removal procedures. Issued in 1988, the court order, also known as the Orantes injunction, was designed to protect Salvadorans seeking refuge in our nation from a brutal civil war in El Salvador. However, times have changed. The civil war in El Salvador ended many years ago, and the nation now has a democratically elected government with a developing economy. Unfortunately, MS-13 and members of drug cartels continue to exploit these loopholes in our legal system to thwart our immigration laws and obtain release into our communities.

In response, I am pleased to cosponsor legislation introduced by Congressman Henry Bonilla (R-TX) to close this legal loophole which allows thousands of illegal immigrants to remain in our country each month. The Fairness in Immigration Litigation Reform Act (H.R. 5541) overturns the Orantes injunction, thereby subjecting illegal Salvadorans to the same enforcement laws as other illegal immigrants. H.R. 5541 also establishes judicial guidelines for other present or future cases to ensure that no injunction unnecessarily interferes with the government’s implementation of the expedited removal program. This legislation is critical to implementing interior enforcement effectively and efficiently, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that illegal Salvadorans are not the exception to the rule of immigration law.

The whole thing from Deport Now