MS-13 Gang Member Thwarted from Re-Entry/Illegals Get Free Medical Care in Lee County Florida

h/t to Immigration News Daily;

Border Patrol intercepts deported Salvadoran street gang member

By Greg Gross

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

4:55 p.m. March 19, 2008

SAN DIEGO – A member of a notorious Salvadoran street gang who was deported from the United States six years ago has been intercepted by U.S. Border Patrol agents while trying to slip back into the country.

A Guatemalan was also with him.

The Salvadoran, whose name was not released, is both an admitted and documented member of Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. He has a lengthy criminal history and was deported in February 2002 after serving time in Nassau County jail in Long Island, N.Y., Endicott said. The Guatemalan had no ties to MS-13, Endicott said. The Salvadoran told investigators he had been a member of Mara Salvatrucha since age 18, and had been fully involved with the gang in New York City. He is being held “in permanent Homeland Security custody, pending prosecution,” Endicott said.Formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s by Salvadorans fleeing their nation’s civil war, MS-13 grew out of response to harassment from existing Mexican-American gangs. The gang quickly developed a reputation for both a high degree of organization and extreme violence, and turned from protecting members of the local Salvadoran community to preying on them.

MS-13 is considered one of the worst and violent gangs currently living in this country.

MS-13 members deported to El Salvador brought the American street gang ethic with them and recruited new members in their native country, many with guerrilla warfare experience or U.S. military training. [more here]

How are there gang members in El Salvador that have U.S. military training?

Inmates get stellar medical care on your dime

Last updated on: 3/19/2008 6:34:57 PM by Michelle Burdo

LEE COUNTY: Many people struggle to afford basic necessities right now, possibly skipping a needed visit to the doctor because they fear the bill. So why are you paying millions of dollars for inmates to get free medical service?

And how can it be that jail features some of the best healthcare around?

You may be outraged that convicts are getting free healthcare, but it’s the law.

“I’m a taxpayer also, but the law is the law,” said Lee County sheriff Mike Scott.

Last year that bill was $6 million in Lee County - next year it’ll be $9 million.

Treatment can be as extensive as dialysis, surgery and even chemotherapy.

It doesn’t stop there - while some Americans struggle to afford a trip to the dentist, inmates wait for a free visit.

Inmate Teodor Buda is a prime example. Buda was shot during a confrontation with a deputy in Lehigh Acres last month.

You’re paying for his hospital stay, drugs, surgery costs and all the overtime for the guards to watch him 24/7.

When asked if there have been cases of people committing crimes to get medical care, food or shelter, he responded, “I’d say absolutely, unequivocally.”

Think that’s bad?

SO WHAT ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS?
Many taxpayers who are learning about the stellar medical care of the incarcerated are likely a bit ticked. And you may be hoping your money isn’t being spent to also give illegal immigrants better medical treatment than many U.S. citizens get.

Brace yourself.

We asked the sheriff how inmates who are illegal immigrants impact his increasing healthcare costs.

He estimates about 10 percent- 250 inmates - are illegal. But it’s tough to pinpoint who they are.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) know of 75 inmates who will be shipped back to their homeland.

But their process to identify these suspects is lengthy - so they sit behind bars… getting the same free treatment everyone else gets.

“In our world, an inmate is an inmate is an inmate,” Scott said. “We can’t go through and say, ‘That guy’s illegal, we’re gonna let him die in the jail cell… can’t do it.”

By law the sheriff is obligated to give every inmate healthcare - whether it be filling a cavity or providing cancer treatment - and it all happens on your dime. [more here]