美国国家公共电台 NPR Despite Escaping To The U.S., These Brothers Are Still Terrorized By The MS-13 Gang

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The MS-13 street gang is behind a string of grisly murders on Long Island, N.Y. The gang started in Los Angeles, but it has roots in Central America. It often looks for new members by targeting immigrant teenagers. Today, NPR's Joel Rose and Sarah Gonzalez of member station WNYC have the first of three stories about a family that feels caught between law enforcement and the deadly gang they're trying to root out.

SARAH GONZALEZ, BYLINE 1: One by one, three teenage brothers left Guatemala on foot and made their way to the U.S. They walked alone across Mexico trying to escape La Mara Salvatrucha, the gang known as MS-13. Now they're together again, reunited with their mom who came here years ago. They're all living in a rural part of Long Island.

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GONZALEZ: And they're being terrorized by the same gang they fled. MS-13 tried to recruit them in high school. They say they refused to join. Their friends refused, too. That's when they all became targets.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALEZ: So they attacked your friends with a machete?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Si.

GONZALEZ: That's the oldest brother. NPR agreed not to use the names of the brothers or their mother because they fear for their safety. Their friends survived the attack, but they're covered in scars.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALEZ: "They have gashes 2 on their heads, necks, legs and arms." Then, MS-13 came after the brothers. Five of them showed up at a soccer field in a green Honda with machetes. The brothers ran to their coach, who drove them home.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALEZ: That's the middle brother. He says they were still shaking when their mom took them to the police station.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Many of the undocumented children who came to the U.S. without their parents or a guardian 3, like these three brothers, say they feel cornered. They're being terrorized by MS-13.

GONZALEZ: And, as we'll see, they have reason to worry that police and even school officials are looking at them as potential gang members.

ROSE: More than 8,000 of the migrant children seeking refuge from violence in Central America have been resettled on Long Island, one of the largest communities of these kids anywhere in the country. We decided 4 to follow the three brothers because their situation reveals a lot about what these young people are facing. Patrick Young is a lawyer with the nonprofit CARECEN.

PATRICK YOUNG: They're coming from areas where Mara Salvatrucha wielded 5 great power.

ROSE: Young's group helps Central American immigrants on Long Island. When these kids arrive in the U.S. and run into the gang again, he says, it can be terrifying.

YOUNG: Then they come to the conclusion that this is just like a Honduras or just like Guatemala, where nobody in officialdom will do anything.

ROSE: The White House says the so-called unaccompanied children are bringing MS-13 and bloodshed with them. Here's President Trump 6 on Long Island last month.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: MS-13 surged into the country and scoured 7 and just absolutely destroyed so much in front of it.

ROSE: MS-13 has been linked to 17 homicides since last year in Suffolk County, Long Island, including some by machete. That was about one third of all the killings 8 there. But here's the thing. When unaccompanied children arrive in the U.S., very few of them are confirmed or suspected members of MS-13. Federal officials counted just 56.

GONZALEZ: That's out of more than 200,000 young people apprehended 9 by Customs and Border Protection since 2011. And on Long Island, police say unaccompanied minors 10 are more likely to be the gang's victims. After the brothers were chased with machetes, the police gave the family a box.

It looks like a toolbox, black with an antenna 11 and an old, yellowing remote with one button.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: For protect - like the bad people, from the gang.

GONZALEZ: It's a panic button.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: When you press this button, the polices come for hurt (ph) your family.

GONZALEZ: So they said take this box. If something happens, push this button, and the police and detectives will come.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Yeah.

GONZALEZ: The family keeps the remote in a jewelry 12 box above a window by the mom's bed. They've had it for six months and haven't had to use it.

"Thank God," the mom says.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALEZ: But now this family is accused of being affiliated 13 with MS-13. First, the youngest brother was suspended from high school for wearing a shirt with the Chicago Bulls logo on it. Bullhorns are the symbol for MS-13. The family is fighting the suspension. The mom says she had no idea about the gang connection when she bought the shirt.

School officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The youngest brother says only immigrants students are told they can't wear certain colors or emblems 14.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY #2: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALEZ: Racist 15? Por que?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY #2: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALEZ: "It's just a bull," he says.

Then, the New York Civil Liberties Union got in touch. The civil rights group informed the family that they believe the oldest brother is on a list of suspected MS-13 members kept by the Suffolk County Police Department.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking Spanish).

GONZALEZ: The mom doesn't understand how her sons can be threatened by MS-13 and then accused of being a part of it.

We asked Suffolk County Police Commissioner 16 Timothy Sini about the family.

ROSE: Sini didn't want to talk about specific cases, but he did say the police are doing everything they can to protect these immigrants. He's also very clear; they want to stamp out MS-13. That's why they made a list of hundreds of suspected gang members. Police officers are assigned to follow every one, and they watch and wait until they commit an offense 17 - any offense.

TIMOTHY SINI: The fact that you've been confirmed as an MS-13 gang member - that doesn't allow us to merely arrest you for a crime. But it does put you on our radar 18 where you will be targeted by Suffolk County police officers for arrest.

ROSE: If suspected gang members don't have legal status, like many of these unaccompanied children, then police call federal immigration authorities. And those authorities can detain them and ask a court to deport 19 them, even if the kids haven't been charged with a crime. Sini acknowledges that only a small number of unaccompanied children are involved in MS-13, but he's concerned the gang is trying to recruit more.

SINI: They don't speak English. They've never been to this country before. It's no wonder that many of these children are targets of MS-13 recruitment. And if we don't provide the support that they need, MS-13 will.

GONZALEZ: The three brothers and their mother are really grateful to the police for giving them a panic button. Still, they're worried. The oldest brother recently became a legal permanent resident. That means he'll have to be charged with a crime in order to face deportation 20. But his younger brothers - they're still seeking legal status here, and being accused of gang membership could jeopardize 21 that.

For NPR News, I'm Sarah Gonzalez.

ROSE: And I'm Joel Rose.

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