How DACA Shields Violent Gang Members
Article publisher:
American Greatness
Article date:
24 February 2018
Article category:
National News
Medium
Article Body:
The March 5 deadline to end protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is rapidly approaching and Congress still doesn’t have its act together. Democrats claim that failure to act is putting lives on the line by threatening upheaval and deportation to thousands—unless Congress intervenes.
On this point, Democrats are right, but not in the way they think they are. A failure to act on DACA, and illegal immigration more generally, is indeed putting lives on the line. A recent report issued by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) shows just how many.
CIS reviewed more than 500 cases of MS-13 gang members arrested nationwide since 2012. The group’s conclusions reveal startling facts about the danger that illegal alien gang members pose to Americans.
MS-13, based in El Salvador, is notorious for its brutality...
Under the Obama administration, however, these efforts became less of a priority. As a result, gang arrests by ICE fell from around 4,600 in 2012 to about 1,580 in 2014.
Accordingly, MS-13 violence increased. In just the last year, Montgomery County, Maryland, reported a 20 percent rise in MS-13 related incarcerations. Prince William County, Virginia, reported a similar increase of 32 percent, while Fairfax County, next door, reported that its MS-13 inmate population doubled in 2017...
All told, there are now MS-13 arrests reported across 22 states. According to the Department of Justice, MS-13 gang members now reside in 40 states and the District of Columbia.
This isn’t a gang engaging in petty crime. MS-13’s motto is “Mata, Viola, Controla,” which means “Kill, Rape, Control.” It’s a way of life they appear to take seriously.
Of the 506 MS-13 arrest cases reviewed by CIS, 207 were for members charged with murder; 100 were accused of conspiracy/racketeering, and dozens more for drug trafficking, sex trafficking, attempted murder, sexual assault, and extortion. Suspects ranged in age from 14 to 57. The average age of their victims? Just 19 years old....
As Congress continues to equivocate over the fate of 700,000 DACA recipients, perhaps lawmakers should give some thought to the millions of American citizens who daily suffer the consequences of their failure to prioritize our immigration system around the laws they took an oath to uphold.
CAIRCO Research