Immigration from Central America also reveals the increasing regionalization of the continent. Many US immigrants this decade have come of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, where emigration is largely driven by poverty, violence, and gang warfare. One gang, MS13, was founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but is now headquartered in El Salvador and operates in various parts of the US and Central America. It has a history of kidnapping and murder in its attempt to control the Central American drug trade.
A December 2018 Washington Post article describes how a Honduran immigrant, who enter the US illegally and found work in construction, was attacked by MS13 gang members in 2002. He testified against them in court and some members were sent to prison; one was deported. He was then targeted by the gang. After a bar-fight with gang members in 2015, he was highlighted for deportation. Though his attorney made it clear that he would likely be killed if sent back to Honduras (where the gang has freer reign) he was deported anyway in August 2016. He was killed by gang members there in April 2017.
His tragedy highlights regionalism in a few ways. First, that he would move to the US at all suggests that some people see the US as a regional safe haven. Second, that a gang headquartered in El Salvador could operate in the US suggests how interactive organizations within the region have become. Third, that a US judge would decide the fate of a Honduran citizen, based on US law, suggests that the judiciary systems are becoming connected as well. (Over 120,000 asylum cases were filed in 2017 alone; over 60 people have been killed after being deported.)
Ending gang activity that drives this demographic shift requires a regional solution. The quasi-failing nation-states on the region’s southern tip appear unable to handle the crisis alone. And when one nation’s problems become another nation’s problems, more intervention becomes justifiable. Like it or not, this is the future. As the region grows more interactive, regional problem-solving will become more common. Welcome to a new world.
References:
Washington Post, “Death is Waiting for Him,” 9 December 2018.
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