by Kaylee Greenlee
Border Patrol officials made nearly 9,700 criminal arrests from October 2020 through August 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Of the nearly 9,728 arrests, 325 individuals were associated with gang organizations, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Over 100 of those arrested with connections to gangs were affiliated with MS-13, and border officials arrested at least nine individuals associated with the group in August, according to CBP.
Four MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, gang members were apprehended on Aug. 26 in the Rio Grande Valley sector of southern Texas, according to CBP. The gang members were encountered traveling with groups of other migrants who illegally entered the U.S., one of the migrants affiliated with MS-13 was convicted of aggravated homicide in El Salvador and sent to prison in 2017.
RGV agents have arrested & identified over 145 gang members from more than 10 different street gangs this fiscal year.
The recent arrest of 4 more MS-13 gang members, to include a convicted murderer, has added to the more than 1,700 criminal migrants arrested this year. pic.twitter.com/4PEhZxu2iI
— Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez (@USBPChiefRGV) August 25, 2021
Border officials in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley apprehended more than 140 individuals associated with 10 different gangs during as of Aug. 23. Other arrests included a migrant who was convicted of sexual crimes against a minor and another individual who was previously convicted as a sex offender.
Border officials in the Rio Grande Valley sector apprehended a Mexican man who was found to be a member of the Partido Revolucionario prison gang with several previous removals from the U.S., CBP announced on Aug. 23. The same week, officials apprehended a Honduran 18th Street gang member and two Salvadoran MS-13 members, one of whom was convicted for sexual battery in Georgia.
Border officials determine whether a migrant is a member of a gang or criminal organization during processing procedures, a CBP spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday. Migrants found to be affiliated with gangs aren’t necessarily separated from other migrants in custody unless there’s a safety concern.
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Kaylee Greenlee is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
