The infamous gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is reportedly taking advantage of the immigration crisis along the U.S. border.
“They’re now using the Nogales processing center as a recruitment hub for new members to come in,” Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich reported Friday. “They’re trying to recruit other teenage boys that are sharing cells with them and they’re using the phones that the Red Cross has set up. They’re supposed to be using those to call back home or to call family members in the United States. They’re also using those as a way to communicate with gang members already in U.S. cities.”
Miss Pavlich’s information came from a Border Patrol executive summary obtained by Townhall.com, which confirmed that at least 16 unaccompanied illegal minors have been identified as members of MS-13.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent contacted National Review in June about gang members who are allowed into the country, saying “If he’s a confirmed gang member in his own country, why are we letting him in here? … I’ve heard people come in and say, ’You’re going to let me go, just like you let my mother go, just like you let my sister go. You’re going to let me go as well, and the government’s going to take care of us.”
Miss Pavlich told Fox News that members of the El Salvadorian gang were scheduled for placement somewhere in the United States. She said ,Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy has been to release illegal immigrants with a notice to appear at a future court date.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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