Attorney General Jeff Sessions will travel to El Salvador Thursday as part of the administration’s fight against transnational criminal organizations, including MS-13, which is based out of the Central American nation.
The Justice Department said that Sessions will meet with the president of El Salvador in the nation’s capital, San Salvador, as well as participate in briefings and meetings “related to MS-13, immigration, drugs, and human trafficking.” The trip is part of an executive order President Trump signed calling for law enforcement to focus on dismantling transnational criminal gangs and stopping international drug and human trafficking.
While Sessions has faced continued criticism from President Trump, who has called him “beleaguered” and his actions “very weak,” the two men have always been public about their shared focus on MS-13.
The notoriously violent gang is based out of El Salvador and has about 10,000 members in the U.S., and recruits from the immigrant community.
President Trump said in a June cabinet meeting that the gang “will be gone pretty soon,” and he is travelling to Long Island Friday to discuss the administration’s fight against the group. (RELATED: Brutal MS-13 Violence Has Long Island Officials Asking For Federal Help)
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday that Trump is “obviously disappointed but also wants the attorney general to continue to focus on the things that the attorney general does.”
“He wants him to focus on things like immigration, leaks, and a number of other issues, and I think that’s what his focus is at this point,” Sanders added.