With Racist Attacks On Immigrants, Trump Bolsters MS-13 Gang

With Racist Attacks On Immigrants, Trump Bolsters MS-13 Gang

Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.

 

Trump’s rhetoric around MS-13 and immigration is not only racist, it makes the jobs of real law enforcement officials more difficult, according to Chuck Rosenberg, a former FBI agent and former head of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Trump’s whole approach to MS-13, a gang with origins in southern California that has since spread to El Salvador and Honduras, is “inflexible and clumsy, based on stereotypes rather than facts,” says Rosenberg.

Trump’s ill-informed bluster, contrary to his stated goals, is really just strengthening gangs like MS-13. Rosenberg laid out his case in USA TODAY.

The president’s focus on MS-13 is political and undermines efforts to counter it. Former MS-13 members have warned that his constant references to the gang have given it visibility and free advertising, enabling it to recruit and metastasize.

Trump’s racism is not just bigoted; it’s a recruitment tool for a violent gang.

In the past, Trump has called immigrants “animals,” and referred to Haiti and nations in Africa as “shithole countries.” His racism was evident from the moment he announced his White House bid, when he referred to Mexicans as criminals and rapists. Trump diligently links immigrants to MS-13, eliciting a mix of fear and xenophobia.

Rosenberg goes on to mention the fact that crime rates among immigrants is lower than people born in the U.S. Yet rhetoric from Trump and allies in Congress rely on misinformation meant to stir up fear and resentment.

“Our immigration debate must be decoupled from MS-13 fear-mongering,” Rosenberg says.

Trump is not alone in his strident anti-immigrant stance. Many Freedom Caucus Republicans, such as Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), do their best to stroke fear when talking about immigration.

After the horrific deadly shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, last year, Perry went on national television to blame terrorists who crossed the southern border.

When Perry defends Trump’s family separation policy, he alludes to human traffickers and criminals even though there is no data to back up such hyperbolic claims.

Rosenberg calls for a smarter way to combat the real problem of gang violence in America, not the political bombast spewed by Trump, Perry and many other Republicans.

“Let’s discount unenlightened political voices,” Rosenberg said, in an obvious dig at Trump, “and heed the more knowledgeable law enforcement voices close to home.”

Published with permission of The American Independent.

 

Advertising

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

How Is That Whole 'Law And Order' Thing Working Out For You, Republicans?

Former Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer

One of the great ironies – and there are more than a few – in the case in Georgia against Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants is the law being used against them: The Georgia RICO, or Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act. The original RICO Act, passed by Congress in 1970, was meant to make it easier for the Department of Justice to go after crimes committed by the Mafia and drug dealers. The first time the Georgia RICO law was used after it was passed in 1980 was in a prosecution of the so-called Dixie Mafia, a group of white criminals in the South who engaged in crimes of moving stolen goods and liquor and drug dealing.

Keep reading...Show less
Joe Biden
President Joe Biden

On September 28, House Republicans held their first impeachment inquiry hearing into an alleged yearslong bribery scandal involving President Joe Biden and his family, and right-wing media were divided on whether it landed.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}