"Wolves in sheep's clothing": AG Sessions calls for revision of unaccompanied minors program over influx of violent criminal gangs

Josh Delk
The Hill
Fri, 22 Sep 2017 02:37 UTC

© Lawrence Bryant / Reuters

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday called for a crackdown on illegal immigration and the influx of violent criminal gangs into the U.S.

"We are now working with the Department of Homeland Security and [Department of Health and Human Services] to examine the unaccompanied minors issue and the exploitation of that program by gang members who come to this country as wolves in sheep clothing," Sessions said.

Sessions blasted those "taking advantage" of the Unaccompanied Alien Children program during his speech before law enforcement officials outside a federal courthouse in Boston.

The program, run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, aims to take unaccompanied minors who enter the country illegally and place them in communities that it says are in "the best interests of the child."

"This program continues to place juveniles from Central America into this gang-controlled territory. It is clearly being abused," Sessions said, saying that the MS-13 gang was using the program as a recruitment tool.

Sessions condemned the actions of the MS-13, a violent gang also known as La Mara Salvatrucha that has settled and committed crimes in U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Boston and New York. The gang originally came to Los Angeles in the 1980s.

"MS-13 represents some of the worst of the worst when it comes to criminal street gangs," Sessions said.

Sessions said his travels to New York and the "belly of the beast" in El Salvador where the gang is focused "has hardened my resolve that we must contain and dismantle this gang, clique by clique and member by member."

The attorney general also referenced President Trump's campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, suggesting that it would help prevent violent gang members from entering the U.S. undetected.

"Securing our border, both through a physical wall and with the brave men and women of the border patrol and restoring an orderly and lawful system of immigration is part and parcel of this anti-gang strategy," Sessions said.

Protesters came to the speech outside the court with signs saying "Jeff: Go Home" and "Racism is #Notwelcome," according to Reuters.

Comment: Forensic criminologist: The truth about crime, illegal immigrants and sanctuary cities

The U.S. Department of Justice documents that in 2014, 19 percent or over 12,000 criminal cases filed by prosecutors were for violent crimes; and over 22 percent or 13,300 cases were for drug related felonies.

That same year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that 75 percent of all criminal defendants who were convicted and sentenced for federal drug offenses were illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants were also involved in 17 percent of all drug trafficking sentences and one third of all federal prison sentences.

According to the FBI, 67,642 murders were committed in the U.S. from 2005 through 2008, and 115,717 from 2003 through 2009. The General Accounting Office documents that criminal immigrants committed 25,064 of these murders.

To extrapolate out these statistics, this means that a population of just over 3.5 percent residing in the U.S. unlawfully committed 22 percent to 37 percent of all murders in the nation.

Illegal immigrants clearly commit a level of violent and drug related crimes disproportionate to their population