5 Facts Every American Must Know About the Brutal MS-13 Gang

The brutal, largely illegal immigrant-filled MS-13 street gang has become a major focus of the U.S. Department of Justice recently and Americans should know the facts about them. The gang is dangerous and they are spread across the U.S. Here are five facts every American should know about MS-13.

1. Most of the members of MS-13 are foreign nationals from El Salvador or first-generation immigrants from Central America.

Most U.S. citizens are unaware that our porous border with Mexico is used by MS-13 to sneak into the country and perpetrate crimes on U.S. soil...

2. MS-13 members work as foot soldiers for Mexican cartels on U.S. soil...

3. MS-13 originated from illegal immigrants in California, yet liberals blame deportations for the gang’s creation.

According to information published by the National Gang Crime Research Center, MS-13 was started by Salvadoran illegal immigrants who fled to the U.S. in an attempt to escape a raging civil war in that country that had killed more than 70,000 people. When the illegal immigrants arrived in California, they began to band together as a way to protect themselves from the Mexican Mafia, the dominant gang in California at the time. By 1993, the MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia had become allies and further developed their criminal activities. What pushed the gang out of the U.S. and into Central America was the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act which called for the deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of crimes...

4. MS-13 members often pose a greater threat to Border Patrol agents than the Mexican cartels the gang works under...

5. The State of Texas considers MS-13 to be a Tier 1-level threat, or the “most significant” threat level...