ICE Re‑Arrests MS‑13 Member Wanted for Salvadoran Murder After 2023 California Release
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Diego have arrested 35‑year‑old David Antonio Aviles Perez, an accused MS‑13 member known as “la bruja” (“the witch”) who is wanted in El Salvador for aggravated murder and had previously been arrested and released in California in 2023. According to DHS, Aviles Perez was sentenced in El Salvador to 20 years in prison for a 2014 gang killing in which prosecutors say he shot a victim in the chest, back and face, but he later surfaced in California, where he was arrested in Monterey on charges including assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly swinging a machete at a homeless man, as well as drug and petty‑theft counts. He was convicted on the California charges and then released, with DHS officials now blaming Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary policies for preventing local authorities from transferring him to immigration custody at that time. Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis called him a “dangerous criminal illegal alien and MS‑13 gang member” and said he is now being held pending removal to El Salvador, contrasting the current Trump‑era detention with what officials characterize as a Biden‑era catch‑and‑release. The case is being used in partisan debate as an example of how sanctuary limits on cooperation with ICE can allow violent offenders with foreign murder warrants to be released back into U.S. communities, even as critics note the article relies heavily on DHS characterizations and leaves questions about when and how Aviles Perez re‑entered the country.
📌 Key Facts
- ICE arrested 35‑year‑old David Antonio Aviles Perez in San Diego; DHS says he is an MS‑13 member wanted in El Salvador for aggravated murder.
- Salvadoran prosecutors had secured a 20‑year sentence against Aviles Perez for a 2014 gang killing involving multiple gunshots to the victim.
- Aviles Perez was arrested in Monterey, California, in 2023 on charges including assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly swinging a machete at a homeless man, was convicted and released, and is now held by ICE pending removal as DHS attacks California’s sanctuary law for blocking earlier cooperation.
📊 Relevant Data
MS-13 originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s from Salvadoran refugees fleeing civil war and economic hardship, with the gang's formation tied to migrant experiences seeking protection and community in the U.S.
MS13 in the Americas: How the World's Most Notorious Gang Defies Logic, Resists Destruction — InSight Crime
MS-13 violence includes intra-gang conflicts, with post-2016 examples showing murders of members over resource mismanagement, dissent, or transgressions, often involving beatings, stabbings, or dismemberments.
MS13 in the Americas: How the World's Most Notorious Gang Defies Logic, Resists Destruction — InSight Crime
Migration of MS-13 members follows general Central American patterns driven by economic opportunity, fleeing violence, and family factors, with over 210,000 unaccompanied alien children entering the U.S. from 2013-2016 settling in areas with gang presence.
MS13 in the Americas: How the World's Most Notorious Gang Defies Logic, Resists Destruction — InSight Crime
California's foreign-born population is more than a quarter of the state's total (about 27%), double the national average of 13.5%, with nearly half of California's children born to an immigrant parent as of 2025.
Why Trump immigration sweeps threaten CA population, economy — CalMatters
A 2020 University of California, Irvine study found no significant impact of California's sanctuary policies on violent or property crime rates, with similar findings from a Stanford and Princeton study showing reduced deportations but no effect on crime.
Trump wants to break California's sanctuary state law: 5 things to know — CalMatters
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