The illegal immigrant minors flowing across the border staying at shelters across the country are being targeted by gangs looking for new recruits, Judicial Watch's Irene Garcia said on
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum."
"The MS-13, one of the deadliest gangs in this country, is actively recruiting at these shelters," Garcia said.
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"We got this straight from some very high-level people in the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol officials and this is what they're doing," she said.
"These new recruits are using the phone provided by the Red Cross . . . at these shelters to then communicate and solidify their deal or their contract with these gangs," Garcia said.
The gangs that are "actively recruiting" these migrant kids are "the 18th Street Gang, which is the largest gang in Los Angeles, and the Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13, which is one of the deadliest gangs in this country," the former reporter from the Los Angeles Times said.
"These aren't just moms and children and young kids," she added. "A lot of them are older kids, probably young adults that have ties to criminal enterprises."
According to Garcia, this aspect of the border surge is not being reported by "the mainstream media."
Judicial Watch reported that MS-13's gang members are mostly illegal immigrants from Central America, and they are involved in crimes such as drug dealing, murder, rape, robbery, and vandalism.
The Daily Beast reported that some of the minors making their way across the border were already returned to Honduras because of their involvement with the two Los Angeles gangs — MS-18 and MS-13.
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