A hard ass approach trumps compassion

So says Michelle Malkin on the treatment of criminal gangs. She's actually engaging in a little bit of bait and switch over First Lady Laura Bush's initiative to keep American kids away from gangs. Michelle changes the subject to gangs composed of illegal immigrants, and goes off worthily on that subject. Illegal immigration is Michelle's number one issue, something she has written a book about (Invasion). This excerpt from her column describes one of the nastier alien gangs:

The most notorious criminal alien gang enterprise on the American landscape is Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, the El Salvadoran-based syndicate engaged in murder, drug trafficking, and human smuggling across Central America and the United States. MS-13 members, many of them juveniles, have been implicated in gang rapes, machete mutilations and cop killings on both coasts. According to Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins, MS-13 paraphernalia and weaponry have been discovered deep on federal forest land in northern California, where Latino gangs have established massive marijuana-growing operations.

Most recently, Ebner Anibal Rivera Paz, the reputed leader of MS-13's Honduran branch, was nabbed in Texas last month after escaping from his native country, where he's wanted in connection with the Christmas holiday massacre of 28 people, including six children.

Rivera Paz's appalling immigration history is a textbook example of how criminal alien gangs exploit our open borders. Prior to being caught on Feb. 10 -- by Texas highway patrol officers 100 miles inside the U.S. -- Rivera Paz had waltzed in and out of the country illegally numerous times despite a long rap sheet and repeated deportations.