The Foreign Service Journal, October 2018

32 OCTOBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL DSS-trained Salvadoran law enforcement and immigration officials are another key element in combating transnational crime and document fraud. the initiative has already proven to be 87 percent more effective in identifying gang members and gang affiliations in the United States and overseas than previously used vetting processes. Host Nations Partnerships While FRONT-Line gives the embassies’ ARSO-Is and FPUs additional resources and techniques to identify and deny visas to gang members who apply for them, host-nation governments also play a critical role in these efforts. DSS special agents are the senior U.S. law enforcement officials at all U.S. embassies— including in San Salvador, Guatemala City and Tegucigalpa—and this has allowed DSS to foster longstanding, close relationships with local law enforcement and immigration authorities. In addi- tion, DSS placed an ARSO-I at each of the embassies to support investigations and national security concerns that affect not just the United States, but the host countries as well. A key resource for ARSO-Is and FPUs in the Triangle is a border intelligence fusion center known as the Grupo Conjunto de Inteli- gencia Fronteriza, which collects and develops regional criminal intelligence and serves as an operational coordination and col- laboration center for regional transnational law enforcement initia- tives. This center was established by the Salvadoran government in December 2017 after the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs began a joint initiative with the government to better screen incoming migrants for gang affiliations at the southern border of the United States. The GCIF is preparing to receive personnel soon fromHonduras, Guatemala andMexico, allowing it to expand its coverage. The GCIF is an integral part of the ARSO-I and FPU’s enhanced gang vetting process because it incorporates criminal intelligence information from the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and partnering foreign law enforcement institutions. The ARSO-I and FPU use these multiple sources of information during the visa adjudication process. DSS-trained Salvadoran law enforcement and immigration officials are another key element in combating transnational crime and document fraud. For several years, every new Salvadoran police officer and immigration official has received intensive train- ing on how to spot falsified travel and identity documents. DSS signed agreements with the governments of El Salva- dor and Guatemala establishing special investigative units of vetted national police officers who work with embassy ARSO-Is to conduct visa fraud investigations. When visa applicants omit disqualifying gang affiliation information in the visa adjudication process, they commit fraud. As a result of the ARSO-I’s continued collaboration with the San Salvador Attorney General’s Office, it is now a crime in El Sal- vador to present a false document when applying for a U.S. visa. Also, over the last several months, the ARSO-I has been working with the AGO to explore new ways to prosecute gang members identified by the enhanced gang vetting process. In March the AGO agreed to serve as the primary venue for all cases related to gang affiliation visa fraud, a significant development for the U.S.- Salvadoran relationship and for DSS’ work to combat transna- tional gangs overseas. Supporting U.S. Gang Investigations One of the greatest contributions DSS makes to the U.S. law enforcement community is providing investigative information and intelligence gained by working with our law enforcement partners overseas. In January the DSS Overseas Criminal Investigations Division chief—who oversees the ARSO-I program and the ARSO-Is posted in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras—briefed the gang task forces of Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island, New York, on the FRONT-Line initiative. They discussed how information gleaned from the vetting process and investigations can assist state and local law enforcement when they are working on cases that may involve transnational criminal gangs. A week after the meeting, Suffolk County law enforcement officials used the infor- mation provided by DSS to identify an alleged MS-13 suspect who was wanted in Maryland and hiding in Suffolk County. The FRONT-Line effort in the Northern Triangle serves as a standard for how to combat violent criminal gangs at home. Identifying, disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal gang activity is only possible through collaborative efforts both at home and abroad. DSS and the rest of the State Department will continue to work hard to deter legal entry of potential gang mem- bers into the United States, and to support U.S. law enforcement agencies combating violent gangs inside the United States. n