Mayra Flores to Newsmax: Must Keep Sending Strong Message on Gangs

The Trump administration's crackdown and deportation of foreign gang members is "exactly what we voted for," and sends a strong message to immigrants coming into the United States illegally, former Rep. Mayra Flores told Newsmax on Sunday.

"I believe that we need to send a strong message to those that cross illegally into our country, that you will be prosecuted, and that if you hurt an American, you will be put in prison," the Texas Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."

"A lot of them think that they can come here to this country, commit the same crimes, horrible crimes that they've committed in their countries and that they're not going to be held accountable because that's exactly what happened under the Biden administration," Flores said.

Americans voted for President Donald Trump to make the country safer for their children and families, Flores said, adding that she is proud that he is doing that.

"We need to enforce the laws that we already have in place," she said. "We need to hold them accountable, and we need to start these massive deportations and send a strong message to those that cross illegally into our country."

Retired Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) senior special agent Michael Cutler, also on Sunday's show, commented that when he started investigating the MS-13 gang in 1992, "it was a relatively small problem."

"They were always vicious and sociopathic, but numerically, it was a small number," said Cutler.

But when former President Barack Obama started his policy of allowing unaccompanied minors to come into the United States, "MS-13 and other transnational gangs exploded" and started racking up violence and crime.

And then, when former President Joe Biden's "nonexistent border" came into play, the gang problems grew even more, he said.

"All of these members have been recruited in middle school," said Cutler. "We have children, particularly within the immigrant community schools, who are being recruited through violence and intimidation into MS-13 and other violent gangs. Their lives are finished. Once they become members, they have little opportunity to fight back."

This makes it vital that the gang members are identified, prosecuted, and put in prison, said Cutler, "because that will also protect the lives of these children in middle school who should be there studying, not fearful that they might be attacked by gang members."

Meanwhile, several sanctuary cities are refusing to cooperate with deportations, and Flores said that means that the "power of the purse" must come into play.

"We need to stop sending them any federal funding until they do what they're supposed to do, enforce their own laws," she said. "The Democrat Party and these liberal cities refuse to enforce the laws that are already in place. And again, we need to send a strong message to these people who have come here illegally into this country and commit these types of crimes. I suggest we continue sending them to El Salvador, and I believe that once they come illegally into our country and they know that they're going to be sent back to the largest prison in Latin America, in El Salvador, that we're going to have less criminals coming illegally."

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