(The Center Square) – Across the country, federal agents are arresting members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) U.S.-Salvadoran transnational gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.
In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing transnational gangs and cartels to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. In February, eight were designated as FTOs, including MS-13.
MS-13 is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s to protect Salvadoran illegal foreign nationals, but expanded the scope of its criminal enterprise. MS13 gang members engage in “campaigns of violence and terror in the United States and internationally,” they “are extraordinarily violent, vicious, and similarly threaten the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere,” presenting “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump’s order states.
This was after more than 300,000 Salvadorans were reported illegally entering the country under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.
Federal agents are actively searching for FTO members, including MS-13, to arrest and deport. In the first few months of the Trump administration, more than 2,700 terrorist organization members, including MS-13, were arrested, The Center Square reported.
In Maine, Border Patrol agents arrested two MS-13 members so far this year. They apprehended one Salvadoran in the country illegally during a vehicle stop only to learn he was wanted by Interpol for aggravated murder in El Salvador. In another incident, Border Patrol’s Anti-Smuggling Unit searched for and found an MS-13 member in Portland. Both men were detained to undergo removal proceedings.
“The U.S. Border Patrol is committed to putting dangerous terrorists and violent gang members behind bars,” Border Patrol Houlton Sector Chief Juan Bernal said. “They present a real threat to our nation and to the American people, and as such, they remain a top enforcement priority for the Border Patrol. Members of the MS-13 terrorist organization should know that our agents will find you, we will work to prosecute you, and if you are not legally present in the United States, we will work to remove you from our country.”
Border Patrol agents in Maine have arrested Venezuelan Tren De Aragua terrorist organization and MS-13 members, Border Patrol says.
In Detroit, Border Patrol agents responded to a request for assistance from law enforcement partners in Sterling Heights, who detained two men involved in an altercation at a local motel. Record checks revealed the men were in the country illegally and one admitted to being a member of MS-13 who served 20 years in a Salvadoran prison for murdering a rival gang member.
“This is a major win for the U.S. Border Patrol and the safety of our communities,” Detroit Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Javier Geronimo, Jr., said. “This arrest is a clear example of how agents and our law enforcement partners are protecting our towns by removing violent criminals from our country.”
Both men are being processed for removal.
In Dallas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers apprehended Maria Julia Varela, a 36-year-old Salvadoran national, with connections to MS-13 and Barrio 18. She is also wanted in El Salvador for her alleged role in organizing an assassination attempt. She remains in ICE custody pending removal.
“This criminal alien fled El Salvador hoping to evade law enforcement and accountability for an attempt of conspiring to take some one’s life,” Homeland Security Investigations-Dallas Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard said. “HSI Dallas remains steadfast in ensuring that communities in North Texas are not a refuge for international fugitives. We are dedicated to pursuing those accused of crimes that endanger public safety.”
In Boston, ICE officers working with the FBI apprehended 24-year-old Salvadoran national and MS-13 member, William Alberto Villalobos-Melendez, in Brockton who’d been illegally living in the U.S. for nearly nine years.
He was first apprehended by Border Patrol agents in 2016 after he illegally entered the U.S. near Hidalgo, Texas, as a gotaway, those who illegally enter between ports of entry to evade capture. Border Patrol agents issued him a notice to appear before a federal immigration judge. In 2019, he was ordered to be removed but wasn’t. He was arrested by Massachusetts state police in Middleboro in March on motor vehicle crimes and by ICE in May. He remains in ICE custody pending his removal.
“He is a validated member of a violent transnational street gang and poses a threat to our Massachusetts residents,” ICE ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said. “ICE Boston will not tolerate any threat that a member of a nefarious gang poses to our neighbors. We will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting criminal alien threats to our New England communities.”
