President Donald Trump renewed his war of words against the Salvadoran gang MS-13 on Friday, saying his long-promised southern border wall would stem the tide of murderers and drug dealers streaming into the U.S.
‘MS-13 gang members are being removed by our Great ICE and Border Patrol Agents by the thousands, but these killers come back in from El Salvador, and through Mexico, like water,’ the president tweeted.
‘El Salvador just takes our money, and Mexico must help MORE with this problem. We need The Wall!’
President Donald Trump went back on offense against MS-13 on Friday, complaining that a porous U.S. border is allowing the gang’s members to enter the country at will
!['[T]hese killers come back in from El Salvador, and through Mexico, like water,' the president tweeted](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/02/23/13/498441EA00000578-5426763-_T_hese_killers_come_back_in_from_El_Salvador_and_through_Mexico-a-11_1519391820908.jpg)
‘[T]hese killers come back in from El Salvador, and through Mexico, like water,’ the president tweeted
Trump said this month that in order to stop the gang, the government needs to change ‘sad, weak and pathetic’ immigration laws
Trump’s harsh rhetoric comes as the government’s Citizenship and Immigration Services agency has quietly changed its mission statement to remove a reference to the U.S. as a ‘nation of immigrants.’
That surprising move was first reported by The Intercept.
He said earlier this month in a video message that the only way to defeat MS-13 is to change America’s ‘sad, weak and pathetic’ immigration laws.
In a nearly three minute video posted to Twitter, Trump outlined his plan on combating the gang, which has tens of thousands of members in at least 40 states and is responsible for a steady drumbeat of gruesome deaths in the U.S.
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was started in Los Angeles during the 1980s by Central American immigrants, mainly those from El Salvador. The gang later expanded to include Mexicans, Hondurans and other Central and South Americans.
According to the FBI, its motto is ‘Kill, rape, control.’ The gang’s members engage in a wide range of criminal activity including murder, rape, prostitution, robbery, home invasions and kidnapping.
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was started in Los Angeles during the 1980s by Central American immigrants, mainly those from El Salvador. The gang later expanded to include Mexicans, Hondurans and other Central and South Americans
Trump has been using gang violence as leverage to emphasize the three planks of his immigration policy platform
MS-13 was declared a ‘priority’ last yer by the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, allowing prosecutors to pursue any legal avenue to target members
Two weeks ago Trump tied MS-13’s rise to his demands for a major immigration policy overhaul.
‘My Administration has identified three major priorities for creating a safe, modern and lawful immigration system: fully securing the border, ending chain migration, and canceling the visa lottery,’ he said.
Trump said ‘loopholes’ in the immigration system has allowed for ‘criminals and gang members to break into’ the country because the laws are ‘so weak, so sad and so pathetic.’
He said MS-13 and ‘many other gangs’ take advantage of those loopholes to not only enter the United States but find new recruits.
‘The laws are bad and they have to be changed,’ Trump declared.
MS-13 was designated as a ‘priority’ last year by the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said prosecutors are able to pursue any legal avenue to target the gang.