The young man on the street looked about 15 or 16 years old, but
he was actually a 22-year-old member of the transnational violent
street gang known as MS-13. He was covered in MS-13 gang tattoos--on
his chest, his back, his feet. It turned out, he had been in jail in El Salvador for murder as a
teenager, and he had already been deported from the U.S. twice for
engaging in violent crimes here. Three other of the estimated thousands of MS-13 gang members that are
just here in our Capital region were also picked up that night. There
have been cases in northern Virginia where a suspected member of the
MS-13 gang has been deported five times, yet returned again to continue
their gang activity. At a town festival in Herndon this year, the gang task force
identified--because they go to these events and they see these people--
an estimated 200 to 300 suspected gang members milling about among the
families who were getting cotton candy and hot dogs for their kids. They are right there looking to recruit in their own communities.
Identified stereotypes
Associating all members of MS-13 with violent crime and murder.
Keywords matched
deported