Republicans Of The House Have Introduced Offical Legislation That Will Work To Designate MS-13 As A Foreign Terrorist Organization

It was reported by the Daily Caller that Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Good introduced legislation Wednesday that would categorize MS-13 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

The Daily Caller first obtained the legislation, which is titled the Every Town a Border Town Act. Currently, MS-13 is designated as a Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), which focuses on its illegal business ventures.

This legislation would designate the gang as an FTO, which would give the federal government a broader range of options to prosecute not just financial crimes but also physical violence.

Good and his cosponsors believe MS-13 poses a threat to the safety and security of U.S. citizens and the national security of the country and should be designated as an FTO.

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

Border officials arrested nearly 9,800 criminal migrants in fiscal 2021, over 100 of which were MS-13 members. MS-13 has around 10,000 members in the U.S., and thousands more across the world.

Designating MS-13 as an FTO would put sanctions on members and their families, put in place travel restrictions to remove them from the U.S. and increase penalties for U.S. citizens who help them financially.

“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. This President’s open border policies have allowed MS-13 to infiltrate cities around the United States infecting American communities with violence and drugs,” Good told the Daily Caller.