House GOP Introduces Bill to Label MS-13 a Foreign Terrorist Organization

Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., introduced a bill on Wednesday that seeks to designate the transnational gang MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), according to the Daily Caller.

Titled the "Every Town a Border Town Act," the legislation would change the gang's classification from a transnational organized crime group (TCO), which focuses on its illegal business ventures, to an FTO, which would give the federal government more options to prosecute for the financial crimes, but also for the physical violence.

"The Biden Administration's anti-American immigration policies have failed to prioritize the safety and security of the American people, favored illegal aliens, and created an out-of-control border crisis," Good said in a press release. "This President's open border policies have allowed MS-13 to infiltrate cities around the United States infecting American communities with violence and drugs.

"We must enhance the safety of the American people by providing federal law enforcement with all the tools they need to stop these criminal gangs from terrorizing us and effectively making every town a border town."

The bill comes after an MS-13 member was found guilty in February of killing a teenager in 2017 in Lynchburg, Virginia.

In fiscal year 2021, border officials arrested more than 8,000 criminal migrants, 113 of which were MS-13 gang members. The gang has approximately 10,000 members in the United States and thousands more around the world.

Since January, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has already seized 234,513 pounds of illegal drugs and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have confirmed that transnational criminal organizations like MS-13 are making billions of dollars in profit from smuggling drugs, people, and other illegal contraband across the southern border. According to CBP, traffickers made $411.5 million in February 2021 alone.  

Recategorizing MS-13 as an FTO would allow sanctions to be put on gang members and their families, increase penalties for American citizens who aid them financially, and put travel restrictions in place to remove them from the U.S., according to the Daily Caller.

The legislation has 15 co-sponsors, all Republicans.

• Four Suspected MS-13 Gang Members Load Body in Their Car in Front of NYC Police
• US Federal Prisons on Lockdown After 2 Texas Inmates Killed