NEW YORK: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday came to the Long Island area of Islip besieged by the transnational gang known as MS-13, and in a 20-minute speech to local police commissioners and sheriffs he vowed to eradicate the gang by, above all, cracking down on illegal immigration.

He likened the gang, which has links to El Salvador, to the Colombian cartel and the mafia, and said that it smuggled gang members across the US border and recruited young immigrants to its ranks.

His message was a familiar one, and it bore the blessing of President Donald Trump, who Sessions said was aware of the violence affecting Suffolk County, where the bodies of four young men were found murdered in a Central Islip park on April 13. Authorities believe the killings were linked to MS-13, which would bring the gang’s body count to 15 in Suffolk County since the beginning of 2016, the most violent stretch to date since MS-13 took hold here in the late 1990s.

“The MS-13 motto is kill, rape and control,” Sessions said at the US Courthouse in Central Islip. “Our motto is justice for victims and consequences for criminals. That’s how simple it is. Prosecute them, and after they’ve been convicted, if they’re not here lawfully, they’re going to be deported.”

Sessions talked tough, declaring that “this is the Trump era,” when the federal government would back law enforcement. He did not offer assurances to the sizeable immigrant community that its members could feel comfortable coming forward to report crimes to police without worrying about their immigration status.

That has been an issue for local law enforcement officials, who fear that the Trump administration’s promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants will further distrust. In presentations throughout the county, the Suffolk County police commissioner, Timothy Sini, has made it clear that no one would be asked about their immigration status.

Last week, speaking at a memorial service for one of the four young men killed, Rep. Peter T. King, a Republican from the second district of New York, which includes Central Islip and neighbouring Brentwood, echoed that statement.

“I certainly can’t speak for the Trump administration, but they’re not going to be deporting anyone who comes forward to report a crime like this,” King said.

Sessions said that prosecuting immigrants who had entered the country illegally and committed crimes was still the federal government’s priority, and that the government was not “out seeking witnesses to crimes to deport.” But, he added, “It cannot be that the attorney general grants immunity contrary to law for people who violate the laws of the United States.”

Before Sessions arrived, about 200 protesters gathered in the early morning outside the courthouse building, across the lawn from the armoured cars and Homeland Security guards.

“I’m concerned that his response is anti-immigrant, which would lead to racial profiling Latinos, African-Americans,” said the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who is president of the State University of New York at Old Westbury.

But King was visibly angered by their presence. He had invited Sessions to Long Island to meet with law enforcement officials to help solve the problem, and he attended a news conference after Sessions’ speech.

“They should be on their knees thanking him, not out there protesting,” he said. “It’s shameful. It’s disgraceful that leaders in the community would criticise the attorney general.”