Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is sending police officers into schools to bring down the rate of students joining gangs like MS-13.
Cuomo’s Gang Prevention Unit is made up of 10 officers who will be distributed among 10 high-risk schools in Suffolk County, Newsday reported Wednesday. The officers will educate teachers and staff to work with parents and students to identify and combat gang activity.
“In this multipronged attack, the breeding ground is the school,” Cuomo told reporters. “And it’s back-to-school time and schools are where a lot of these gangs actually operate. That’s where they recruit, that’s where they intimidate, that’s where they meet.”
Illegal immigrant advocates have criticized the program, however, claiming Cuomo’s true goal is to hike up the deportation of illegal immigrants.
“We are disheartened to hear the Governor has decided to implement a School to Deportation Pipeline that will ultimately make all youth and communities less safe,” Rahsmia Zatar, executive director of STRONG YOUTH said in a statement. “The governor is inciting a war against gangs that can only lead to further marginalizing our vulnerable youth, making them prime targets for recruitment.”
It’s unlikely that deporting illegal immigrants is Cuomo’s goal, however, as the Democrat governor has a long record of advocating for illegal immigrants. Cuomo responded to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in July by asking Trump to deport him before any illegals.
“Start with me. I’m an immigrant,” Cuomo shouted at his July rally. He told the crowd that the Trump administration had broken New York’s “cardinal rule,” by getting tough on illegal immigration
“They forgot who they are,” Cuomo said. “Unless you are Native American, we are all immigrants.”
Cuomo’s anti-gang program is part of a long-running campaign by US officials to combat gangs and MS-13 in particular. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the arrest of 13 MS-13 members in August. (RELATED: ICE Director To MS-13: ‘My Gang Is Bigger Than Yours’)
“With more than 10,000 members across 40 states, MS-13 is one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the United States today,” Sessions said. “MS-13 members have killed children and pregnant women, extorted immigrant-owned businesses, and trafficked underage girls to sell them for sex. President Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to reduce crime and take down transnational criminal organizations, and we will be relentless in our pursuit of these objectives. Today’s charges are our next step toward making this country safer by taking MS-13 off of our streets for good.”
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