Congressmen Meet With Trump To Talk Deadly MS-13

Speaking out about the ongoing war against MS-13, Reps. Lee Zeldin and Peter King met with President Donald Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, four other members of Congress, and law enforcement officials at the White House roundtable on Tuesday — and after the meeting, Zeldin had a message about deadly street gangs.

“The rise of gang violence is one of the greatest challenges we face as a nation, but for Long Islanders it is especially personal," Zeldin, R-Shirley, said.

"From the vicious machete attack of four young men in Central Islip, to the childhood best friends brutally murdered by MS-13 in Brentwood, our community has witnessed the indiscriminate brutality of MS-13 firsthand," he said.

Every level of government has a role to play in combating the rise of MS-13, and there is a need to crack down on the aspects of the nation’s "broken immigration system and other policies that have allowed MS-13 and other gangs to take hold in our communities and stay there," Zeldin said. "I look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and his administration to ensure law enforcement officials on Long Island and around America are successful in their selfless efforts to protect our communities."

According to Newsday, at the meeting, Trump urged lawmakers to green light his immigration reform plan which includes plans for $25 billion in funding for a southern border wall.

King discussed unaccompanied minors placed with local relatives, the Newsday report said.

In a previous Patch interview, King said a federal program that allows unaccompanied minors to cross the border is a critical issue; of the MS-13 arrests made, more than 50 to 70 percent were unaccompanied minors, King said. There are more than 4,000 unaccompanied minors in Suffolk County, King told Patch.

Unaccompanied minors who come to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, are placed with families "that have been threatened by MS-13 or paid by MS-13," King said. It's believed, King said, "that MS-13 is gaming or using the system" to get young people placed with Suffolk County families and subsequently, bolster MS-13 ranks.

King said there is definite pressure for kids to join gangs, with the threat of violence for those who won't join.

"Police have told me that kids who don't join get beat up pretty badly, there's definite pressure — a definite risk of being killed," he said.

King told Patch a multi-pronged approach is essential to tackle a lethal problem that's "decimating communities."

Trump vowed to crack down on deadly MS-13 during his first State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol, bringing the pain of the devastation close to home when he introduced the parents of two Brentwood teen girls murdered in a horrific act of MS-13 gang violence.

"For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They've allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives," Trump said.

He introduced "two fathers and two mothers: Evelyn Rodriguez, Freddy Cuevas, Elizabeth Alvarado, and Robert Mickens," whose girls, Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, were close friends on Long Island, Trump said.

"But in September 2016, on the eve of Nisa's 16th Birthday — such a happy time it should have been — neither of them came home," he said. "These two precious girls were brutally murdered while walking together in their hometown. Six members of the savage MS-13 gang have been charged with Kayla and Nisa's murders."

According to Trump, many of the gang members "took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as illegal, unaccompanied alien minors, and wound up in Kayla and Nisa's high school."

He added: "Evelyn, Elizabeth, Freddy, and Robert: Tonight, everyone in this chamber is praying for you. Everyone in America is grieving for you. . . I want you to know that 320 million hearts are right now breaking for you. We love you."

Photo, video courtesy Rep. Lee Zeldin.