They escaped MS-13 in Central America only to find the gang thriving in northern Virginia, via @Anna_Giaritelli washex.am/380aNT7
5 federal and local officials who work on gang matters in the region say they don’t have a way to calculate exactly how many asylum seekers, temporary protected status recipients, immigrants, and those without documents have been victims of crimes committed by MS-13 and others
But the immigrant community in Fairfax County, Virginia, is often on the receiving end of extortion, violence, and other crimes.
“We know that these gangs ... victimize their own communities.”
“We know that these gangs ... victimize their own communities.”
“We know that sometimes in these immigrant communities they may not report all the crimes to police and that people in these immigrant communities are also escaping the gangs from their countries, and they’re finding them over here in the United States as well,”
Francisco Klockner is a gang prevention coordinator and a member of the Northern VA Regional Gang Task Force, which Congress created in 2003 to give the region’s 15 cities and counties a way to monitor, prevent, and stop gang activity in Washington’s backyard.
In the 16 years since then, MS-13 remains the biggest threat, especially in the immigrant communities its members largely reside in and target. Two officials asked to remain anonymous due to their direct work with gang members.
Massive criminal networks such as MS-13 are extorting immigrant communities because of their proximity as co-residents and because they know some will not report crimes to police.
Victims or witnesses who report crimes may face retaliation from the gang, while others, in the country illegally, fear doing so could mean getting reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In the state of Virginia, 12%, or 1 million people, are immigrants, according to a 2017 report by the American Immigration Council. Half a million are naturalized citizens, and approximately 300,000 are undocumented, or living in the country illegally.
Salvadorans make up 10% of the immigrants in Virginia, the largest single group. Salvadorans also comprise most of MS-13.
As of late 2019, MS-13 has approximately 3,000 members, on par with recent years' figures, according to two officials.
As of late 2019, MS-13 has approximately 3,000 members, on par with recent years' figures, according to two officials.
Jay Lanham, executive director of the task force, named MS-13 “by far the largest gang in northern Virginia,” adding, “Due to the transient nature of gangs and that many are here illegally, it is impossible to give accurate numbers.”
ICE arrested 4,341 gang members in fiscal 2019, 10% of whom belonged to MS-13.
