Trump bashes El Salvador, demands Mexico help more with removing MS-13 gang members from the US

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with state and local officials to discuss school safety, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018, in Washington.

• President Donald Trump has bashed El Salvador as unhelpful and demanded Mexico do more to help the US rid itself of MS-13 gang members.
• On Thursday, Trump threatened to withdraw ICE from California, saying the state offered "no help" and would become a "crime nest" without them.
• There is some evidence to suggest that deporting MS-13 gang members from the US is ineffective, and may make the group stronger.

President Donald Trump has bashed El Salvador as unhelpful and demanded Mexico do more to help the US rid itself of MS-13 gang members.

"MS-13 gang members are being removed by our Great ICE and Border Patrol Agents by the thousands, but these killers come back in from El Salvador, and through Mexico, like water. El Salvador just takes our money, and Mexico must help MORE with this problem. We need The Wall!" Trump tweeted on Friday, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement as ICE.

Trump's tweet comes the day after he said he's considering pulling ICE from California because he claims the state is giving his administration "no help" in removing MS-13 gang members.

Trump on Thursday claimed that without ICE, California would become a "crime nest" and "be begging for us to come back."

But under Trump, Border Patrol and ICE have been criticized for broadening their operations beyond the immediate border with Mexico and invading the privacy of US citizens.

Additionally, gangs like MS-13 have begun using deportations from the US, one of the main ways the US combats the gang, to their advantage. Some gang members get deported many times and use the return trips to Central America to establish additional cells, only to return across the border to US cities later, the LA Times reported in 2005.

Trump campaigned on cracking down on immigration and fighting gangs, as well as building a border wall. USAID has provided more than $4.4 billion to El Salvador, where the MS-13 gang originated, but most of that money has gone towards health initiatives like reducing infant mortality, according to the group.