During an Oval Office event on Wednesday, President Trump celebrated the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) success against MS-13 gangs.
“We will not allow these animals to terrorize our communities and my administration will not rest until every member of MS-13 is brought to justice,” he said.
Attorney General Bill Barr, who called the transnational MS-13 “a death cult,” said the DOJ has had great success fighting it in areas like California, New York, and Nevada. According to the White House, U.S. Border Patrol arrested 464 MS-13 members in fiscal year 2019 — an 83 percent increase from 2016.
Trump added that over 2,000 members of MS-13 had been arrested during his term as well as 16,000 other transnational gang members. He noted that the administration would continue to pursue MS-13 and support strong border polices to keep its members out. “When Biden and the radical left want to open up borders for MS-13 and others, we want strong borders,” the President asserted.