ms-13 members are illegally entering the
United States in growing numbers since
last year that number has quadrupled in
April channel twos Jacob Rascon traveled
to El Salvador where ms-13 rules the
streets with brutal force earlier this
month he revealed how law enforcement in
the Houston area is working undercover
to track down and arrest ms-13 gang
members responsible for murders and
kidnappings tonight Jacob travels to the
texas-mexico border where ms-13 members
are concealing their true identities and
taking advantage of immigration laws to
enter this country illegally
[Music]
it is a typical day at the border in the
Rio Grande Valley a group of illegal
immigrants triggered a hidden camera the
room Grand Valley sector is the busiest
sector in the nation for both illegal
alien apprehensions and arcot exceeding
500 apprehensions here every day
including ms-13 members this is how
ms-13 gets into this country all the way
from El Salvador crossing into the u.s.
on one of the thousands of trails just
like this
many ms-13 have also turned themselves
into Border Patrol posing is innocent
helpless unaccompanied minors a
protected class of immigrant sent to
live with family members across the
United States I think they're doing that
because they know that perhaps there may
be a loophole that they can exploit over
the last several years more
unaccompanied minors apprehended at the
border have been sent to Harris County
than any other county in the United
States the overwhelming majority are not
gang members but law enforcement sources
tell KPRC nearly every ms-13 member who
has committed a violent crime in our
area in recent years had protected
unaccompanied minor immigration status
but you never know who you're after
handing out in the children you never
know it's a gang member
murder every person caught crossing the
border illegally when we were there came
from Central America
we're from Honduras including the
Hernandez family who hoped to make it to
Houston hey Bundy yet oh you a gang
member
no most like an ELISA and her son Da
Vida say they risk their lives traveling
to America to escape ms-13 we may have
bet didn't quit I'm afraid they're gonna
kill you kill you wonder what time Josue
says ms-13 warned him never to return to
Honduras or he would be executed in
prison ms-13 members look like this let
me see the old murder
extortion but in the open four years now
they look like any other Central
American immigrant what we're seeing now
is they come with no tattoos
they try and blend in this year deputy
chief Rael Ortiz says ms-13 members have
also regularly posed as fathers with
young children all an elaborate scheme
you're encountering them at the border
here almost every day so not only you're
encountering at the border we're
encountering at our checkpoints we're
going around our checkpoints every
station to help Border Patrol identify
ms-13 members select agents now trained
in El Salvador with local police similar
to the FBI and ice from El Salvador to
Houston to the border and beyond
the fight against ms-13 is increasingly
coordinated with law enforcement
everywhere hope is finally a winning
strategy so guys it was clear from our
trip to the border that first of all
more people a lot more almost three
times as many are crossing the border
illegally compared to last year it was
also clear that most of these people are
trying to get away from gangs like ms-13
and bad economic conditions and then it
was also clear that more gangs that have
tried to cross urban cought in years are
crossing and being caught right now the
Border Patrol believes that's partly
because they are getting better and
better at identifying gangs like ms-13
Jacob Rascon KPRC Channel 2 News
thank you for your report Jacob