Salvadoran Officials Overwhelmed by Increase of Deported Gang Members Sent by Trump Admin

So far this year, the United States has deported 398 gang members back to El Salvador, compared to only 534 for all of 2016.

Héctor Antonio Rodríguez, director of the country’s immigration agency, is clearly worried about how returning gang members affect his country.

This clearly affects El Salvador. We already have a climate of violence in the country that we are combating,” Rodríguez said. “If gang members return, of course this worries us.”

MS-13 gained a foothold in the United States in the Salvadoran areas around Los Angeles. The lax immigration policies and weak border enforcement under the Obama administration led to a rapid increase in the number of gang members and their growth across America.

The gang problem hit national headlines in a big way after the brutal murder of four teens in the New York City area by MS-13 gang members on Long Island.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it clear that the Justice Department would step up in actions against MS-13 and similar gangs.

The MS-13 motto is kill, rape, and control,” Sessions said. “I have a message to the gangs that are targeting our young people: We are targeting you. We are coming after you.”

In April, President Donald Trump also stated his intentions to fight not only criminal illegal gangs, but sanctuary cities as well.

At the heart of my administration’s efforts to restore the rule of law has been a nationwide crackdown on criminal gangs, and that means taking the fight to the sanctuary cities that shield these dangerous criminals from removal. The last very weak administration allowed thousands and thousands of gang members to cross our borders and enter into our communities, where they wreaked havoc on our citizens. The bloodthirsty cartel known as MS-13 has infiltrated our schools, threatening innocent children.”

For the president, the situation has a lot of personal relevance, given that he grew up on Long Island.

We are seeing the vicious spread of transnational gangs into all 50 states and the human suffering they bring with them. I have been with the parents. It is devastation. . . My administration will not rest until we have dismantled these violent gangs, and we are doing it rapidly, and we are sending them the hell out of our country.”

A week ago, Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he’s obtained documents from a whistleblower that shows the Obama administration knowingly admitted 16 MS-13 gang members in 2014.

The change in administrations has led to a sharp policy reversal, and a new headache for officials in El Salvador.

Source: Breitbart

Image: Diarioextra