President Trump holds a rally in Florida

President Trump repeats tonight that gangs like MS-13 "occupy our country" and adds that the Democrats want the gang to rule the United States.

"Their new platform, what they want to do, the Democratic Party They want to abolish ICE," he said. "In other words, they want to let the MS-13 govern our country, which will not happen every day, the brave men and women of ICE release communities and cities of Wild gangs like MS-13 that occupy our country like any other We want maximum border security and respect for the ice of our heroes, border patrols and law enforcement.

The President speaks frequently about the need to suppress the MS-13 gang. The subject often comes up when Trump talks about undocumented migrants, and he sometimes cites the gang as a reason to bolster US immigration laws.

Here's What We Know About The Gang : The MS-13 Gang Was Founded In Los Angeles Decades ago, Salvadoran immigrants fled the country's civil war. It is one of the largest criminal organizations in the United States, with more than 6,000 members in at least 46 states and the District of Columbia, said the US Attorney's Office. In 2012, MS-13 became the first, and remains the only street gang designated by the US government as a "transnational criminal organization".

But, although brutal, their crimes are not particularly prevalent in the United States MS-13 remains a small fraction of the global gang problem in the United States, according to FBI statistics. Victims tend to be members of the immigrant community, members of rival gangs, or individuals who have rejected the gang.

And some of the immigration policies of the Trump administration can help MS-13. In 2017, experts warned the administration that the removal of US protections for more than 300,000 Central Americans could strengthen gangs like MS-13 because the lack of legitimate employment options could push some migrants in gangs. (The administration terminated protective measures for the citizens of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.)

MS-13 members themselves claim that the Trump's crackdown is stronger because the witnesses are more reluctant to come forward. deported.