Banishing America's Bad Hombres
Lucy Ash asks how the notoriously violent street gang, MS13, which has roots in Los Angeles and El Salvador is influencing the heated row over illegal immigration in the U.S.
President Donald Trump has pledged to chase what he called the ‘bad hombres’ out of America. One of the organisations the President is targeting is the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, better known as MS-13 whose members deal in drugs, human smuggling and underage prostitution.
They aggressively recruit young Latino immigrants in U.S. cities and suburban communities and have recently been responsible for a number of shockingly brutal murders, including the killing of two teenage girls with machetes and baseball bats.
Lucy Ash travels to Long Island in New York and to Maryland to investigate. She asks what impact such crimes have on the heated debate about illegal border crossings and she asks if tougher immigration policies will really make America safe again.
(Photo: Protesters gather outside a venue where Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks about a recent spate of gang related killings in New York. The violent street gang MS-13 has been blamed for 11 deaths in Central Islip. Credit: Getty Images)
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Is America’s most violent gang recruiting high school students?
Duration: 02:38
Broadcasts
- Thu 18 May 201712:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Thu 18 May 201721:06GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Fri 19 May 201701:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Sun 21 May 201704:06GMTBBC World Service except News Internet



