Border Patrol agents arrested three MS-13 gang members who were caught attempting to come across the southern border illegally from Mexico in separate attempts over the past week.
The two men and a woman were intercepted by federal law enforcement agents in three different parts of the border: McAllen, Texas; Calexico, California; and Salton City, California. While arrests of gang members happen on occasion, the three arrests reflect an increase as the number of people illegally crossing the border has more than doubled since President Joe Biden took office in January.
One of the MS-13 gang members was apprehended in Salton City, California, when an agent performed a vehicle stop on a 2005 Honda Odyssey, according to a Customs and Border Protection statement. The gang member, a citizen of El Salvador, was the passenger, and the driver was an American. Both were arrested, and the gang member, a 33-year-old self-admitted member of the gang, is in federal custody awaiting deportation.
A female MS-13 member was arrested on Sunday in Texas along with a Mexican national who had been deported in May 2020 after being convicted for murder, per a press release. The third member was arrested near Falfurrias, Texas.
The rise in families and children coming across the border each week has forced Border Patrol to pull agents from remote regions to help transport people in custody or process them, making the international boundary easier to penetrate.
More than 172,000 people attempted to come across the border from Mexico illegally last month, marking the highest monthly total in 15 years. The total is also five times greater than the number reported this time last year, at the start of the coronavirus.
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MS-13 stands for Mara Salvatrucha and the gang originated in California. It is the most dominant gang in El Salvador, a top-sending country for migrant families arriving at the border who are fleeing violence and poverty. MS-13 is one of the world’s most violent and territorial criminal enterprises, and its members are involved in drug smuggling and human trafficking.
