Round-ups of violent street gangs with foreign-born members by Immigration and Customs Enforcement late last month may be the opening of a new front in the war on crime.
The feds long have targeted domestic criminal organizations, but these gangs and their criminal empires operate across international frontiers.
In addition to perhaps weakening the gangs, the arrests also could enhance homeland security by disrupting a potential cross-border conduit for terrorists.
Operation Community Shield, which netted 582 arrests, including 28 in the Denver area, was long overdue: Gangs like MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, have taken violence to a new level of ruthlessness in their criminal enterprises, from illegal drugs to money-laundering and arms and human trafficking. MS-13 has spread to at least 27 states, including Colorado.
Unbridled avarice is the driving force, and that’s what makes these gangs so dangerous. “If there’s something illegal that is profitable, they’re involved in it,” said Carl Rusnok, communications director of ICE’s central region in Dallas. And that could include helping terrorists enter the U.S. “That’s always a concern,” he said. “Right now there’s no current evidence that has been going on, but obviously these people wouldn’t be concerned about the ethics involved in doing so.”
Community Shield originally focused on MS-13 but has been expanded to include Sureños, 18th Street Gang, Latin Kings, Vatos Locos, Mexican Mafia, La Raza gang, Border Brothers, Brown Pride, Norteño, Florencia 13, Tiny Rascal, Asian Boyz, and Jamaican Posse. In six months, nearly 1,100 gang members and associates have been busted.
July arrests included 11 gang leaders; 506 were arrested for administrative immigration offenses; 261 were convicted criminals; 76 were charged with illegally re-entering the U.S. after deportation, firearms and false-document offenses and state crimes.
ICE’s immigration and customs authority is a good fit for busting foreign-born gang members and for crimes like money-laundering. Gang members can be taken off the streets and sent out of the country. Any who sneak back face a felony charge with up to 20 years in prison, Rusnok said.
Operation Community Shield is an open-ended operation, and ICE is likely to be busy for some time: MS-13 alone has an estimated 15,000 members in the U.S. Our borders may leak like a sieve, but by concentrating on these criminal gangs, ICE may help make the streets safer.
