The US Congress passed a bill to clean up the scourge known as MS-13, a brutally violent gang predominantly comprised of illegal aliens from El Salvador. Outvoted by Republicans, the Democrats are not happy about it. The Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act (H.R. 3697) was passed on Thursday, September 14, 2017 with a vote ratio of 233-175.
Acronymized, MS-13 stands for Mara (group of friends) Salvatrucha (street-smart Salvadorans) according to lore and gang culture as explained in a Business Insider bio piece. MS-13 members are heavily-tattooed (each teardrop represents a murder) and denounce US immigration policies and DHS enforcement efforts.
In its statement, the White House press secretary wrote, “This bill provides law enforcement with the tools they need to improve domestic security and restore public safety by denying criminal alien gang members admission to the United States. President Trump has always made the safety of Americans his highest priority, and encourages the Senate to take quick action and pass this bill.”
Indeed law enforcement on the front lines trying to repel the malice inflicted by MS-13’s roughly 10,000 membership can use the extra muscle provided by Congress and its lawmaking purpose.
Proposed by Rep. Barbara Comstock (R — VA) on September 9, 2017, a section of H.R. 3697 defines and qualifies MS-13 as “an ongoing group, club, organization, or association of 5 or more persons.”
Summed-up by Rep. Comstock, the bill “will ensure that when ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] positively identifies a known alien gang member, they may act immediately.” Swift deportation is the recourse she is referring to. Thanks to solid and shared police intelligence networks, ICE already knows who is or isn’t a bona fide gang member, all it will take is completing the requisite paperwork to rid the nation of the MS-13 malignancy.
Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), encapsulated the vicious culture of MS-13, saying, “MS-13 gang members are notorious for exploiting the communities in which they live and operate – victimizing community members through violence and intimidation, extorting local business owners, recruiting young children into the gang lifestyle, and creating a magnet for violence from rival gangs. Their members are involved in myriad criminal activities, including murder, extortion, narcotics and weapons trafficking, human smuggling and human trafficking, and other crimes with a nexus to the border.”
Certainly, MS-13 does not sound like a lovely bunch of patriots whose interests are anything other than self.
“This legislation will help DHS in its continued efforts to identify, arrest, imprison and/or remove transnational gang members and to suppress violence and prosecute criminal enterprises.”
A boon to federal immigration agents with DHS, H.R. 3697 buffers President Trump’s immigration enforcement initiatives. DHS issued a statement lauding Congress for passing this bill, declaring, “This legislation will help DHS in its continued efforts to identify, arrest, imprison and/or remove transnational gang members and to suppress violence and prosecute criminal enterprises.”
In the Final Vote Roll Call, 174 Democrats voted against the bill while 11 voted for it. There was one opposed representative and 222 in favor from the Republican side of the aisle.
Here is an example of the liberal mindsets who opposed the bill and why:
.@HouseGOP's "Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act" is unconstitutional & unconscionable, w/ deadly consequences for many innocent people. pic.twitter.com/B9Z7ZkbkHt
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) September 14, 2017
And the ACLU weighed-in, saying, “The American Civil Liberties Union recommends a NO vote on this bill because it will promote widespread racial profiling, violate First Amendment protections, expand mandatory detention of immigrants, raise serious constitutional questions on judicial review of government designations of certain groups, and bar humanitarian relief for individuals in violation of international treaties.”
Now, the bill is in the laps of the US Senate:
House Passes Bill, Targeted at MS-13, That Would Make Gang Membership a Cause for Deportation/// Senate your turn?
https://t.co/Di7fch5Wji— 🔥Bulletz4Breakfast🔥 (@BigStick2013) September 15, 2017
