Donald Trump is due to call for more 10,000 immigration officers and the building of his border wall to crack down on a notorious gang operating in New York state.
In an immigration policy speech in Long Island on Friday the President is due to call for 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, the building of his border wall with Mexico, a “substantial amount” (sic) of legislation to expedite the removal of illegal immigrants from Central America, a bill against sanctuary cities.
He will also call for the passing of the so-called “Kate’s Law” – named after Kathryn Steinle, a Californian woman murdered by an illegal immigrant who had previously been deported from the US five times.
These measures are part of his new push to rout out the MS-13 gang – an international criminal gang founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s which has since expanded into several US cities.
On Thursday, he tweeted that the administration was already making “big progress” against the gang.
The gang has been linked to at least 17 different murders in the Long Island area since January 2016 and last week five members were arrested in connection with the murder of four immigrants in April, the New York Times reported.
An unnamed White House official told The Hill that immigration reform was a priority for the Trump administration and pointed to the quick removal of illegal immigrants who are only suspected of gang membership even if they do not have a criminal record.
He said: “If you are a gang member you are a priority for removal. Full stop".
He called the policy "politically incorrect but law enforcement-wise very correct."
