ICE puts detainers on 10 associates of MS-13 in connection with sex trafficking of 13-year-old girl

The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it has filed nearly a dozen immigration detainers against suspects in a multi-state sex trafficking scheme involving a 13-year-old girl, with the individuals in question reportedly being members of or connected to the notorious Central American gang MS-13. 

The department said Monday on its website that it had "placed immigration detainers on 10 individuals arrested by the FBI for sex trafficking or physical assault of a minor."

The suspects are implicated in the kidnapping, sex trafficking and violent assault of a runaway 13-year-old girl, with ICE saying that the girl was sold into sexual slavery in Maryland and Virginia, and that she was also beaten with a baseball bat several times. 

The agency files immigration detainers against immigrants within the U.S. who have been arrested for criminal charges. A detainer "asks the [arresting] law enforcement agency to notify ICE in advance of release and to maintain custody of the alien for a brief period of time so that ICE can take custody of that person in a safe and secure setting upon release from that agency’s custody."

According to the Department of Justice, the suspects in the case are residents of Virginia and Maryland.