Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2018

The President's Weekly Address

June 16, 2018

"Every day at 5:23, I feel like she's going to come through that door, but I know she's not." Those are the words—and heartbreaking they are—of Elizabeth Alvarado, whose beautiful 15-year-old daughter Nisa, along with her friend Kayla, was brutally murdered by a gang of vile savages known as MS–13. You've all heard of them; they're bad.

Everywhere they go, the thousands of MS–13 gang members who have infiltrated our country so illegally and so violently live by their gruesome motto: "Kill, Rape, Control." Just weeks ago, an illegal MS–13 gang member was arrested for allegedly murdering a man and burning his body. The gang member reportedly entered our country through glaring loopholes for unaccompanied alien minors. The Democrats allow those loopholes to be there. They could change them so easily, but they don't want to do that for strictly political reasons.

In Texas, two MS–13 members were charged after allegedly kidnapping, drugging and raping a 14-year-old girl and then murdering someone else. In Maryland, MS–13 gang members are accused of stabbing a man 100 times, decapitating him, and ripping out his heart. Police also believe MS–13 members beat a sex-trafficked 15-year-old girl with a bat 28 times, badly disfiguring her body and her face.

MS–13 has infiltrated many schools across America. A recent newspaper report details how a middle school in Maryland is suffering from violent MS–13 gang activity, including drug dealing, attempted gang recruitment, daily fighting, and alleged assault.

MS–13 gang members are truly—and you've heard me say it—animals, and yet Nancy Pelosi and Washington Democrats continue to protect them and to push for open borders. They want them taken care of; they want them to be left alone. The record is plain: Washington Democrats voted against Kate's Law, they voted against legislation to deport gang members, and they voted for sanctuary cities where these violent criminals hide. Democrats in Congress have opposed every measure that would close these immigration loopholes and bring the slaughter to an end.

Americans must demand their lawmakers support the legislation we need to defeat MS–13 once and for all and to ensure every American child, in every American community, can grow up in safety and grow up in security and in peace.

We have a great country. I want to keep it that way, and you want me to keep it that way. Thank you very much.

NOTE: The address was recorded at approximately 4 p.m. on June 14 in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. In the address, the President referred to Brentwood, NY, resident Elizabeth Alvarado; Alexi Saenz, Jairo Saenz, Selvin Chavez, and Enrique Portillo, who, along with two unnamed minors, are accused in the murder of Brentwood, NY, residents Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens in Brentwood on September 13, 2016; Franklin G. Platero-Rodriguez, who is accused of murder in Houston, TX; Miguel Alvarez-Flores and Diego Hernandez-Rivera, who are accused in the kidnapping and murder of a Houston, TX, area teenager; Miguel Angel Lopez-Abrego, who is accused of murder in Silver Spring, MD; and Ivan Alexis Pena-Rodriguez, Yervin Josue Romero-Rivera, and Miguel Angel Ayala-Rivera, who are accused of first-degree assault in Kensington, MD.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Weekly addresses.

Locations: Washington, DC.

Names: Alvarado, Elizabeth; Alvarez-Flores, Miguel; Ayala-Rivera, Miguel Angel; Chavez, Selvin; Hernandez-Rivera, Diego; Lopez-Abrego, Miguel Angel; Pelosi, Nancy M.; Pena-Rodriguez, Ivan Alexis; Platero-Rodriguez, Franklin Edgardo; Portillo, Enrique; Romero-Rivera, Yervin Josue; Saenz, Alexi; Saenz, Jairo.

Subjects: Congress : House of Representatives :: Minority leader; Immigration and naturalization : Illegal immigration; Immigration and naturalization : Reform; Law enforcement and crime : Illegal immigration, deportation of criminals; Law enforcement and crime : Transnational criminal organizations.

DCPD Number: DCPD201800429.