(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice is taking action against La Mara Salvatrucha, MS-13, an international criminal organization whose members authorities say are involved in committing murder and other violent crimes in at least 10 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Under the Trump administration, MS-13 was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The DOJ is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of MS-13’s highest-ranking member in Honduras, Honduran national Yulan Andony Archaga Carías. He was previously charged in 2021 in a superseding indictment in the Southern District of New York with racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses.

Archaga Carías oversees MS-13’s cocaine trafficking operations from Honduras to the U.S., “ordering and coordinating acts of violence, including numerous murders, and the laundering of drug proceeds,” among other violent crimes, according to the charges.

He and other MS-13 members also provided protection to drug trafficking organizations, including contracting “Sicarios” (hit men), by ordering numerous murders for hire, according to the indictment. Archaga Carías and MS-13 members also allegedly supplied DTOs with firearms, including machine guns, in El Salvador, Nicaragua and elsewhere.

Archaga Carías is on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List, the DEA’s Most Wanted Fugitives List, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigation’s Most Wanted Fugitives List. He remains at large.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the FBI at archaga-carias_tips@fbi.gov, or via WhatsApp at +1-832-267-1688.

In another case, a high-ranking member of MS-13 was arraigned on a four-count indictment charging him and 12 other high-ranking MS-13 leaders with directing its activities in the U.S., El Salvador, Mexico and elsewhere over the last 20 years.

Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, 47, of Ahuachapán, El Salvador, and Veracruz, Mexico, a fugitive for nearly three years, was added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List under the Trump administration. He was arrested last month at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, California.

Those charged “have engaged in a litany of violent terrorist activities aimed at influencing the policies of the government of El Salvador,” including targeting Salvadoran law enforcement and military officials; employing terrorist tactics like using Improvised Explosive Devices and grenades; operating military-style training camps for firearms and explosives; public acts of violence in order to intimidate civilians, control territory and manipulate the electoral process in El Salvador, according to the charges.

MS-13 members have engaged in a reign of terror in New York, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York prosecuting hundreds of MS-13 leaders, members and associates for more than 80 murders, the DOJ says.

In another case, an MS-13 leader, Joel Vargas-Escobar, was arrested in New York for his alleged role in a racketeering conspiracy that involved at least 11 murders in Nevada and California. He was also charged with two counts of murder-in-aid of racketeering and associated firearms charges. After previously being deported to El Salvador in 2018, he illegally re-entered the U.S. and became a fugitive from the law for nearly four years.

Vargas-Escobar and his co-defendants are part of MS-13’s command and control structure in Las Vegas and California, authorities allege. Many of their victims were kidnapped and taken to remote locations in the mountains and desert, where they were tortured and killed, according to the charges.

In another case, MS-13 member and Honduran national Bayron Wuifredo Santos-Recarte, 27, who was illegally in the U.S., was sentenced to 147 months in prison for kidnapping, retaliating against a federal witness, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

He and his associates were found guilty of kidnapping a former federal witness at gunpoint in the parking lot of a laundromat in Nashville, Tenn. The witness testified during a federal racketeering trial against MS-13 members that they twice tried to shoot and murder him. While kidnapped, he was held in a truck for hours and assaulted and tortured with a firearm, hammer and machete.

MS-13’s more than 10,000 members are operating in at least 10 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, with thousands more operating in Central America and Mexico, the DOJ says. MS-13 members are being prosecuted for racketeering, murder, kidnapping, narcotics distribution, extortion, robberies, obstruction of justice, and other violent crimes.

(The Center Square) – Only 1 in 10 Americans believe the current checks and balances for the three branches of government are very effective, says a national poll released Thursday in North Carolina.

Sampling April 10-17 of 1,000 adults by the Elon University Poll found 32% said it is somewhat or very ineffective. In answering who has too much power, 46% said the executive branch, 27% the judiciary and 19% the legislative branch.

“Americans are clearly questioning whether the rule of law and our constitutional structure are built to withstand the pressures of the current political moment,” said Zak Kramer, dean of Elon University School of Law. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about how these disputes will turn out, and things are moving fast, so we shouldn’t be surprised that most Americans view these questions through a heavily polarized lens.”

Tuesday will be the 100th day in office for President Donald Trump. Through Tuesday of this week, nonpartisan law and policy journal Just Security documented 206 legal challenges to his administration’s actions. The New York Times, the Elon Poll said, has found 98 judicial rulings at a minimum temporarily pausing some of the administration’s efforts.

Trump’s approval ratings, according to the Elon poll, have gone from positive to negative since a Feb. 6-11 polling just weeks into his second term. His job performance is approved by 41% and disapproved by 47%; in February it was 45% approved and 41% disapproved.

Party lines are strong, according to the poll. His executive orders are opposed by 83% of Democrats and approved by 73% of Republicans.

Survey answers were split nearly evenly on the U.S. Supreme Court – 51% confident, 49% little or no confidence. Only 21% believe it is balanced when considering conservative and liberal.

Regarding the Department of Justice, 69% believe a president should not influence cases. Within that principle, support is from Democrats (83%), independents (65%) and Republicans (61%). Only 38% believe Trump when he says the department’s processes were used against him; 43% think he is wrong.

Elon University said 1,149 adults age 18 and older were interviewed and matched down to the 1,000 sample. Margin of error is +/- 3.58%. The university funds and operates the poll “as the neutral, nonbiased information resource.”

(The Center Square) − Louisiana lawmakers are moving forward with a proposed constitutional amendment and companion legislation aimed at shutting down a loophole that critics say allows foreign actors to influence U.S. elections — not through candidates, but through ballot initiatives.

Senate Bill 109 and House Bill 590, filed by Republican lawmakers this session, would prohibit the use of funds, goods, or services donated by foreign governments, foreign entities or noncitizens to support or oppose any candidate, political party, or ballot measure in Louisiana — directly or indirectly.

While federal law already prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to candidates, it does not explicitly cover ballot initiatives. That gap, long noted by election watchdogs, has come under increased scrutiny following revelations of significant foreign-tied money flowing into ballot campaigns in other states.

The bills would make it a crime for any foreign source to contribute funds to support election-related activities. Violators could face fines of up to twice the amount of the donation and up to five years in prison. Individuals who knowingly accept such donations would be required to return the funds.

SB109 proposes a constitutional amendment that, if passed by the Legislature, would go before voters statewide on Nov. 15, 2025.

“This is a proactive measure to ensure Louisiana doesn’t become the next battleground for foreign-funded influence campaigns targeting our democratic processes,” Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project Action, told The Center Square. 

Louisiana’s move comes amid a broader wave of state-level action on the issue. More than 15 states have introduced similar bills this year, and six—including Ohio, which passed a landmark measure in 2023—have enacted bans on foreign funding in ballot initiatives.

Critics point to the 1630 Fund, a powerful nonprofit aligned with progressive causes, which has spent more than $130 million in 26 states to back or oppose ballot measures, often with funding tied to foreign nationals.

A Swiss billionaire, Hansjörg Wyss, has been identified as a major contributor to the fund, according to Americans for Public Trust. While Wyss has never become a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, he has reportedly poured nearly half a billion dollars into American progressive political efforts, according to Snead.

“In Ohio, for example, the 1630 Fund spent $20 million in just 18 months on ballot measures — most of it arriving after lawmakers began pursuing a ban,” Snead said. “It’s a cautionary tale. Once the money starts flowing, it can be hard to stop.”

Supporters of the bills argue that state action is urgently needed to fill the federal gap and to safeguard democratic processes, especially as ballot initiatives become an increasingly potent tool to bypass legislatures and rewrite state constitutions.

Louisiana, they note, has so far avoided becoming a major target of these influence campaigns — but that could change.

“What we told lawmakers is simple,” Snead said. “Don’t wait for the money to come before you act.”

The proposed bills also aim to block so-called “pass-through” funding structures, in which foreign donations are funneled through U.S.-based nonprofits, effectively masking their origin. Lawmakers are considering provisions to track and limit such intermediary channels.

“We don’t even know if the $280 million linked to the 1630 Fund reflects the full extent of his contributions to that group. And we have no way of knowing whether other foreign nationals are quietly directing money into U.S. nonprofits,” Snead said. “There’s nothing preventing other foreign nationals — even those with close ties to adversarial governments like the Chinese Communist Party — from exploiting the same loophole. We often refer to Wyss and the 1630 Fund as just the tip of the iceberg. There’s almost certainly much more foreign money influencing U.S. politics that we simply can’t see.”

As the measures advance through the Legislature, Louisiana joins a growing list of states working to close what many see as one of the most significant election security loopholes in U.S. law.

“There’s still a long way to go nationally,” Snead said. “But every state that takes action brings us closer to closing this gap once and for all.”