Trump puts new spotlight on Long Island gang killings

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — As he sat down for an interview with Time magazine for his "person of the year" profile, Donald Trump explained his tough view on illegal immigration by retrieving a copy of the Long Island newspaper Newsday and pointing to a blaring headline: "Extremely Violent Gang Faction."

The article focused on the killings of five teenagers from the same New York City suburb and suspicions that the slayings were the work of a street gang, MS-13, that has roots in El Salvador and has been linked to at least 30 killings on Long Island since 2010.

"They come from Central America. They're tougher than any people you've ever met," Trump told the magazine. "They're killing and raping everybody out there. They're illegal. And they are finished."

That tough talk was welcomed – and created new worries – in the suburban community plagued by the gang violence.

Just months ago, advocates for immigrants were lamenting publicly that a string of disappearances of Hispanic high school students in Brentwood, N.Y., hadn't gotten enough attention from authorities while they were happening.

Now, they are worried that the president-elect's attention will mean a crackdown that goes far beyond gangs.