Trump officials bag top MS-13 leader, administration says

The Trump administration caught a top MS-13 gang leader during an operation in Virginia, according to a Thursday statement from the White House. The illegal immigrant from El Salvador was one of the gang’s top three leaders in America, according to the release.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised the Trump administration’s speed and effectiveness throughout the operation’s planning and execution. Virginia has been trying to catch dangerous migrants for the last three years but got little to no help from the Biden administration, Youngkin told reporters. The operation came days after America’s top intelligence leaders labeled gangs as one of the most immediate threats facing the country. The FBI’s task force will go anywhere it’s needed to get dangerous immigrants out of America, Director Kash Patel said.

What else has been happening on the immigration front? Thursday’s bust came days after a six-day operation out of Massachusetts that targeted what the administration characterized as gang-affiliated migrants and ended with 370 arrests. Over 200 of the migrants had been previously convicted or charged with serious criminal offenses, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Homeland security officers also arrested nearly 300 members of the Tren De Aragua gang earlier this month after President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The Trump administration also arrested over 500 criminal migrants less than a week after taking office, according to the White House. That number included suspected terrorists and gang members, according to the Trump administration.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visiting the recently deported migrants in El Salvador’s top security prison on Wednesday.