Trump Blasts 'Menace' MS-13 On Long Island: 'They're Not People'

BETHPAGE, NY — President Donald Trump blasted MS-13 gang members at an immigration forum on Long Island Wednesday, laid out a strategy for cracking down on the brutal gang violence here — and fired back at Democrats he said stand in the way of closing "glaring loopholes" in the law.

Trump said, of the deadly street gang he's called "animals," that its presence on Long Island and across the country is "a menace."

Trump said he was "moved" to be joined by the parents of Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas, who suffered "unthinkable heartbreak at the hands of" MS-13 gang members who killed their daughters.

Many of MS-13 gang members, Trump said, exploit "glaring loopholes" in US immigration law, which he called "the worst of any country, anywhere in the world." Many gang members, he said, are unaccompanied minors. "They look so innocent; they're not innocent," Trump said.

Trump said he's particularly shocked to see the trail of MS-13 brutality on Long Island, "where I essentially grew up," Trump added that he grew up in Jamaica, Queens, "very close."

Trump made a misstep when he referred to a chilling order by MS-13 gang members to assassinate police officers on Long Island. No police officer was actually shot, despite enhanced protection and a reward offered.

"They killed a policeman here," Trump said, before describing a number of brutal crimes nationwide where MS-13 "hacked up a teenager." He also referenced the murder of four young men in a Central Islip park in 2017, allegedly at the hands of MS-13.

In Maryland, Trump said, MS-13 gang members stabbed a man 100 times, decapitated him, "ripping out his heart." Others, he said, beat a 16-year old victim of sex trafficking with a bat, 28 times, "totally disfiguring a beautiful young woman."

Trump blasts Dems

Trump blasted Democrats in Congress for refusing to close loopholes in the laws that have led to MS-13 brutality across the country.

He mentioned the "disgraceful practice known as catch and release" where gang members are arrested and released, then told to come back, which they rarely do.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi took Trump to task for calling MS-13 gang members "animals" during an immigration roundtable with California sheriffs. "Calling people animals is not a good thing," she said.

"I called them 'animals' and I was met with rebuke. They said, 'They're people.' These are not people and we have to be very, very tough," Trump said.

Rep. Peter King agreed. MS-13, he said are "horrible, vicious, rotten murderers."

John Cronan, the acting assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice, said MS-13's ranks are constantly being reinforced with new immigrants from El Salvador, infiltrating high schools, middle schools and even elementary schools. He described abject brutality involving machetes and chains; the gang is often run from leaders in jail in El Salvador, he said.

MS-13 members gang rape young girls and kill rival gang members or members of their own gang who are perceived to cooperate with law enforcement, he said.

But law enforcement is "hitting hard" against the "unspeakable violence," he said, with targeted prosecutions and U.S. law enforcement working with partners in Central America and El Salvador. "We want these savages incapacitated before they can cross over," he said. "We will not permit our country to be a playground for MS-13 to pursue its murderous mission."

Thomas Homan, acting director of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said of the recent MS-13 arrests on Long Island, 40 percent represented unaccompanied minors. "There is a connection," he said.

He said while Trump has been "taking hits" for calling MS-13 animals, "I think you're being kind. Animals kill for survival. MS-13 kills for sport, to terrorize. There's a big difference there."

He pointed to the increased ICE arrests of MS-13 gang members. "They are the worst of the worst," he said. "ICE is not going away," he said. "New York is under attack."

Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general for the US Department of Justice, said a resurgence in MS-13 has been seen in Washington, DC and Maryland "fueled by illegal immigration and unaccompanied minors."

He also mentioned loopholes in federal law, including the fact that minors are not eligible for expedited removal, almost all unaccompanied minors are released from custody, "even if they want to go home," a requirement by Homeland Security that unaccompanied minors be turned over to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, and a consent decree that holds alien children to special rules. Many who are released never return and remain in the community for years, he said.

Unaccompanied minors, he said, are vulnerable to gang recruitment.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said of 500 MS-13 gang members in the county, 250 are active; six young people were murdered in 2017 by MS-13, with one shot in the face, one in the back of the head, and "four violently butchered with machetes and buried in shallow graves," he said, adding that 90 percent of the crimes are being done by 10 percent of the people, with MS-13 comprising a large percentage of that number.

He called for a enhanced information sharing at the border and an effort to reach kids before they're lured into gangs.

Plan to deduct aid

Trump also said he's working on a plan to deduct aid from countries that are sending MS-13 into the United States.

"We have to change the laws," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Michele Nielsen.

One loophole, she said, is that currently, there is no way to bar known gang members from entering the country. Arrests, she said, are up 42 percent, and there is a crackdown on fraud. There are also increased background checks to ensure, when HHS hands over a child, they are actually a family member and not a convicted criminal or smuggler.

Rep. Lee Zeldin said when you run for office, it's important to "keep your promises."

He agreed and said calling MS-13 "'animals,' is a nice way of putting it." He added a threat must be identified to be eradicated.

Of MS-13, he added, "This issue should transcend partisan politics. But it's not, in Congress." He blasted Pelosi, who he said took to the House floor "to celebrate the humanity and behavior that ... has torn apart the hearts of the families here."

To Trump, he said the president has put his neck out, "but you end up negotiating against yourself when Democrats in Congress refuse to work with you. It's obstructionism." He called for an end to the catch and release program an the "visa lottery" and said securing the entryways is not just critical to keeping out people who shouldn't be entering illegally but "things," such as heroin and opioids.

The parents of the murdered teens gave heartrending testimony. "We have to go through this every day. It's an ongoing struggle," said Robert Mickens, describing what it's like to not find his daughter in her room, ready to wake up for school. "We've missed two birthdays. This would have been her year to graduate."

He added, "It's one thing for children to have a little fist fight and walk away but to murder another student, a fellow classmate, you're not an ordinary human. These children really need to stop hurting each other because if these children are our future, we won’t have a future. No parents should have to bury a child."

He addressed protestors and said the nation is comprised of immigrants. "But if you are going to come here with acts of violence, you can stay in your own country because we don't need it anymore."

The American dream, Trump added, "is coming back bigger and better than ever. Protestors are not so big anymore. They're dwindling."

Elizabeth Alvarado, Nisa's mother, spoke from her heart. "Every day, I wake up and I feel like she's going to come home, come through that door, but I know she's not. For her legacy, I will do the best I can to educate parents, children, little kids. If you need to talk to me and you are scared, I am here. I will always be here — because my daughter wants me to be here."

Evelyn Rodriguez, Kayla Cuevas' mother, said her daughter was "a beautiful girl. She had dreams and they took that away from her. How those kids were murdered, tortured, is unacceptable. You said they were animals. You are correct. They are animals."

Freddy Cuevas agreed. "You used the correct word — animals."

In Boston, an MS-13 member named "Animal" was recently sentenced for his involvement in the murder of a 15-year old.

Trump thanked ICE, who he said is "rougher" than MS-13. "They're rougher, tougher and meaner. They throw these guys into these wagons, rolling jails, and you have people applauding. It's almost like a war and your getting rid of someone that's occupying your nation."

He said he finds it unbelievable to think that in the streets where he "essentially" grew up, kids are afraid to go out.

Trump also lauded law enforcement. "What they go through, the restrictions put on them. They've got to be nice, can't be too tough, they've got to be gentle, can't touch them — they do an incredible job."

Trump's visit sparked controversy, with some saying Trump's "dehumanizing rhetoric is not welcome" in New York and others applauding his efforts to cripple the thugs that have terrorized families and transformed sleepy streets into what Trump called "blood-stained killing fields" across Long Island and the nation.

Trump spoke at the Morrelly Homeland Security Center in Bethpage.

During a visit to fight back against MS-13 in 2017, tempers flared as some said Trump endorsed police brutality; the president urged police officers to be rough with those in police custody.

Patch file photo.