As President Donald Trump’s administration works to curb violent crime, El Salvador offers a stark example of a country that confronted its notorious gangs with aggressive measures.
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In January, officials charged three criminal illegal aliens from El Salvador who were allegedly members of MS-13 with murdering a 14-year-old boy in Maryland, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Two of the suspects had previously been arrested and released before allegedly taking part in the killing.
El Salvador, meanwhile, has largely broken the grip of the gangs that once terrorized the country. Its homicide rate is now roughly one-third that of the United States, according to preliminary FBI data and published reports.
But that was not always the case. Although El Salvador now boasts a homicide rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people, the figure stood at 104 per 100,000 just a decade ago.
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