Quote Together, we’re going to restore safety to our streets and peace to our communities, and we’re going to destroy the vile criminal cartel, MS-13, and many other gangs

A THREAT TO AMERICAN COMMUNITIES: MS-13 has brought violence, fear, and suffering to communities across the country.

MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, is a violent transnational gang primarily composed of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador.

MS-13’s motto is “mata, viola, controla” which means “kill, rape, control.” They commit shocking acts of violence to instill fear, like machete attacks, execution-style murders, gang rape, and human trafficking

MS-13 has more than 30,000 members worldwide, including more than 10,000 in the United States. The violent gang recruits middle- and high-school students, primarily immigrants, and uses fear of retribution to keep their recruits from leaving

The gang is known to regularly conduct activities in at least 40 states and the District of Columbia. MS-13 primarily generates income through extortion, prostitution, membership dues, and illicit trafficking.

As revealed by recent investigations, MS-13 gang leaders are known to send representatives across the United States border to take control of local MS-13 “cliques,” local units, and connect the local members to gang leaders abroad. MS-13 gang leaders have directed American MS-13 cliques to become more violent in order to control territory.

In recent years, MS-13 has taken advantage of the large flow of foreign nationals from Central America and Mexico into the U.S. by hiding in these populations.

MS-13 has preyed on American communities, committing horrendous acts of violence. Approximately 38 percent of all murders in Suffolk County, New York, between January 2016 and June 2017, were linked to MS-13.



COMBATING MS-13: President Trump’s Administration has undertaken serious efforts to bring the violent criminals of MS-13 to justice.

President Trump spoke on the threat posed by MS-13 in his remarks on the State of the Union and described the bravery of our Nation’s law enforcement officers who continue to combat this violent gang.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions designated MS-13 as a priority for the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces in October 2017.

Under President Trump, DOJ has worked with partners in Central America resulting in the filing of criminal charges against more than 4,000 members of MS-13.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made 4,818 criminal arrests related to gang activity in FY 2017, as well as 892 administrative arrests that resulted from gang investigations. HSI arrested 796 MS-13 gang members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from FY 2016.

In FY 2017, U.S. Border Patrol Agents arrested 536 gang-affiliated illegal aliens, of whom 228, more than 40 percent, were affiliated with MS-13.

SECURING OUR BORDERS: President Donald J. Trump has released an immigration framework which includes border security measures vital to preventing the entry of criminal aliens like MS-13 members into the United States.