It was April 11th, 2017. Jefferson Villalobos was visiting his cousin Michael Banegas
who lived on Long Island. Both boys had come to the United States as unaccompanied minors in 2014 to escape gang violence and reunite with their parents. On this specific day, Michael and Jefferson were helping Michael’s dad install fiberglass insulation. By 8pm they were exhausted, so Michael’s dad dropped them off at home before heading to his night job. Despite being tired after the long day of work, the boys decided to go out with some friends. They met up with
Justin Llivicura, Jorge Tigre, Alex Ruiz, and two girls from Central Islip. The group headed over to the soccer fields by the Central Islip Recreation Village complex. They entered the woods behind the fields, where many teenagers went to smoke marijuana. After sitting in the woods for a few minutes, the group of teenagers saw people approaching wearing masks. Alex ran into the woods as the others were surrounded and forced to kneel. The next day, the bodies of Michael, Jorge, Justin, and Jefferson were found in the woods. They were hacked apart by machetes, the
telltale sign of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang (Robbins and Rodriguez). Three months later, President Trump visited Long Island to talk about the this gang problem. The murders of these boys were not isolated cases. Since 2010, MS-13 has been linked to more than two dozen murders on Long Island alone (Fuller et al.). President Trump referred to the gang members in a speech as “predators and criminal aliens” who “take a young, beautiful girl, 16, 15, and others and they slice them and dice them with a knife, because they want them to go through
excruciating pain before they die” (qtd. in Swartz). Trump uses the fear generated around MS-13 to try to convince Congress to back his plan to end the visa lottery, complete the wall along the Mexican border, and stop chain migration (Bolger). Although I agree with President Trump that MS-13 is violent and needs to be stopped, I cannot accept his conclusion that anti-immigration laws will fix the problem. The fear he is generating in the media is misleading, and can lead to
legislation that will be ineffective. Better understanding the gang and the motives for joining it are the first steps in creating anti-gang legislation and rehabilitation programs that work.
The United States has a history of street gangs dating back to the 1800s. These groups emerged in ethnic minority neighborhoods where people were faced with barriers such as culture shock, new languages, bad living conditions, discrimination, and lack of educational opportunities. The realization that one cannot attain a respectful status creates alienation and resentment among young people. These youths often turn to street gangs, where they find not only acceptance, but also status and respect gained through committing crimes. The first American gangs were among Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants. These groups have disappeared as their ethnicities assimilated to mainstream American culture (Wolf 70). However, the American gang culture is far from gone. As new groups of refugees emerge, they face the same discrimination as the Italians and Jews did in the 1800s. This discrimination causes the hopeless minority youth to create and join gangs.
This is exactly what happened in 1980 when El Salvadoran President Carlos Romero was ousted in a coup, and the country broke out into a civil war. In ten years, the war cost the lives of 75,000 Salvadorans (Klahr 93). It also displaced over one million people, which is one fifth of the country’s population. About half of these people came to the United States, causing Salvadorans to rise to the second largest Latin American group in America after Mexicans. However, since the United States was supporting the war in El Salvador, it did not want to accept the refugees. Only 2% of the Salvadorans that applied for asylum were approved (Cervantes and
Menjivar). These Salvadorans were unable to turn back to their country, as it was flooded with violence, so most of these immigrants started living without documents in the United States. Many of them settled in the slums of Los Angeles. This made Los Angeles the city with the second largest population of Salvadorans in the world after the San Salvador Metropolitan Area (Klahr 94). At this time, Los Angeles was dominated by the Mexican Mafia, a street gang formed in the 1920s by Mexicans who migrated to America for work (Wolf 70). This gang was a threat to the Salvadoran youth, so the youth banded together for protection. They initially started by hanging out in Sol International Park and going to rock concerts together. Their enjoyment of rock concerts caused them to start using the devil’s horns as a hand symbol. Soon they began calling themselves the Mara Salvatrucha. Mara is slang for gang, and Salvatrucha is slang for a street smart Salvadoran. As time went on, the youth became more organized, added more members, and became involved in illegal activities. In 1993, the group made an alliance with the
Mexican Mafia to facilitate illegal activities. This alliance made them an official Southern California gang, and they added 13 to their name since M is the 13th letter of the alphabet (Adams and Pizarro 2). The Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, began to accept individuals of other ethnic backgrounds such as Ecuadorians, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and Hondurans (3). The group of boys had grown from a discriminated minority group into a gang that sought illegal activities.
As the gang grew, it began developing identifiable characteristics and organizational structures that still stand today. MS-13 members created a process of trial and initiation to enter the gang. During the trial period, the recruit hangs out with gang members and participates in gang activities. If they make it past this stage, they enter the gang by being “beaten in,” where three older members beat the new recruit for 13 seconds. Some female members are also beaten in, while others are initiated through sexual rituals (Adams and Pizzaro 3). Following initiation, the new member is given 13 rules of conduct. Some of the rules pertain to their rivalry with the 18th Street gang, which originated in Los Angeles. For example, MS-13 members cannot wear hoop earrings, tie their shoes with two loops, or wear anything else that could look like an eight. Other rules include following orders given by superiors and punishments for trying to leave or
snitch on the gang (5). People who are found to have violated a rule are often killed (6).
As the gang added many new members, it also began dividing into subgroups called
cliques. Each clique has a leader called a Palabrero, or a shot caller (Wolf 81). While the cliques have no overarching structure or supervisor, they sometimes band together against a common threat. The gang also marks its territory with graffiti and the members get large tattoos. Common designs for these include forms of the name MS-13, the phrase Salvadorian Pride, or the initials of their clique. Gang members communicate to each other through the devil’s horns hand sign and stacking, which uses multiple hand symbols to pass messages and identify their clique (Adams and Pizarro 3).
As displayed by the cliques in Long Island, a symbol of the gang that still stands today is the machete. This is because the machete is used in rural farming in El Salvador, where many MS-13 members grew up. One member recalls guarding his family’s crops with a machete at the age of four (Adams and Pizarro 4). Since the creation of MS-13, the machete has been a common murder weapon and symbol of the gang.
With MS-13 becoming increasingly involved in violent crimes, Congress passed a law in 1996 that required the deportation of immigrants who were convicted of a crime that had over a year of jail time (Garland). The United States targeted MS-13 members, trying to get rid of the seemingly imported problem. However these deportations ended up exporting the United States gang culture to Central America (Wolf 71). Returning youth tried to give up their past lives, but feeling disoriented in a country they barely remembered while still being marginalized led to the
continuation of gang life. Local adolescents looked up to these people, as they embodied wealthier American dress and life styles, causing more kids to join their groups. Eventually, both MS-13 and their rival the 18th Street gang emerged in Central America (73).
The police in El Salvador were unprepared to take on the new challenges of gang life. El Salvador only has 20,000 people in their police force (Garland). The small force was so overwhelmed that as many as 95 percent of crimes would go unpunished (Labrador et al.). Most people had little trust in the police, as many were corrupt or could be bribed. This caused the rise of violence in El Salvador to the extent that the country became more violent than it had ever been, even though the war was now over. The main forms of violence included robberies, drug
sales, rapes, and homicides (Wolf 78). The gang gets its main form of income through extortions. All businesses, teachers, students, bus drivers, and taxi services that go through gang territory are required to pay a heavy tax. If they do not pay, they will face violence. One gang member told National Geographic that they often take up to 50 percent of people’s incomes. He said they always pay, but “sometimes you have to get a little aggressive with them” (qtd. in Adams and Pizarro 7). Hundreds of bus drivers have been killed and dozens of buses have been burned to
enforce their rates (Wolf 78). Salvadorans pay an average of $390 million a year in extortions (“Imperios de la Extorsión”). They mainly use the money for personal uses, parties, gun purchases and funerals (Wolf 84).
El Salvador also has very high rates of homicide due to the presence of multiple rival gangs. The El Salvadoran President, Mauricio Funes, helped create a truce between MS-13 and the 18th Street gang in 2012. While extortions and violence continued toward the general public, homicide rates fell by 40 percent. However, when the truce unraveled in 2014, the homicides more than doubled. This led to El Salvador being the world’s most violent country in 2015, with a homicide rate of 103 per hundred thousand. Since then, El Salvador’s homicide rates have declined by 25 percent, though they still remain 11 times higher than the United States’ rates
(Labrador et al.). All of these crimes are causing a new wave of refugees to flee from their homes. We are now seeing the effects of our unsuccessful attempt to export the American gang culture, as many Central Americans come to our borders to escape MS-13’s violence.
The Northern Triangle has unsuccessfully tried to reduce gang violence. In 2003, Central America began to pursue Mano Dura, or Iron Fist policies. This system called for area sweeps, mass detentions and the arrest of people based on their appearance. These extreme measures originated for the purpose of gaining votes to win an election, and they were justified by the inflation of the gang problem through mass media (Wolf 72). However, the program turned out to be largely unsuccessful. The public became more intolerant toward members of the MS-13
gang. This lowered gang members’ chances to be hired and work. Because of this, drug sales, hired murder, and extortions increased (78). Mano Dura also caused MS-13 to undergo several transformations. The gang made entry requirements more difficult as to ward off enemy infiltration. New recruits underwent screening and were forced to eliminate a rival gang member to prove loyalty. MS-13 restricted the use of drugs and prohibited the use of hard drugs such as cocaine to reduce deaths inside the gang. Knives and handmade weapons were exchanged for firearms. Gang members became more secretive, and with this large tattoos, certain dress codes,
and public flashing of hand signals declined. Hang-out spots changed from public places like streets and parks to private locations. Also, with the incarceration of many gang members and leaders, prisons became command centers. Central American jails lack control and structure. Shared confinement only strengthened existing gang ties and created new members. Bribery and intimidation afforded certain members to obtain cell phones, which allowed them to communicate with outside gang members and order hits (72-3). It is not surprising that the Mano
Dura initiative increased the strength of the gang since the program originated for the purpose of winning an election, not that of reducing gang violence.
The lessons learned from these policies are especially important right now because
America is going through a similar situation. President Trump has been using MS-13 to create fear and support anti-immigration laws. However, if these laws are not built on truths about MS-13, they will not reduce gang violence. It is important to understand the common misconceptions media is displaying about MS-13 so we can understand what legislation will and will not work.
The first misconception is that MS-13 is a well-organized, transnational gang. For
example, the New York Post stated that the “transnational street gang MS-13 has better organizational structure than some corporations” (Celona and Fears). While it is true that the MS-13 is now considered a transnational gang as it has spread to six countries and contains some cross border ties due to deportations, most parts of the gang are unconnected (Adams and Pizarro 1). The gang functions inside small cliques with no overarching authority figures. Youths who start gangs will often claim affiliation with MS-13 to gain power even though they have no real
connection to the gang (Wolf 76). So while the Mara Salvatrucha is considered a transnational gang, it is only considered that symbolically and not through authority.
Since they are lacking the overall authority, MS-13 is not as organized and involved in the drug trade as people often think. In October 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated that pursuing MS-13 was “a priority for our Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces” (qtd. in Dudley). President Trump promised “to destroy the vile criminal cartel, #MS13” (qtd. in Dudley). However, MS-13 is a street gang, not a drug cartel. Despite several attempts from various members, MS-13 has not established a real foothold in the international drug trafficking market. This is because MS-13 is more of a social club than a criminal enterprise, and the
members are more inclined to immediate gratification, which is why extortion is a staple. They also lack the overall organization to be successful at drug trafficking. Drug dealing is associated with individual members and clique, but not the whole gang (Dudley).
Another myth that has emerged is that MS-13 has ties to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The rumored link between MS-13 and Al-Qaeda arose in 2004, when the Honduras security minister Oscar Alvarez declared that Adnan El Shukrijumah supposedly met with MS-13 leaders in Tegucigalpa to seek their help entering the United States. This encounter was reported by several newspapers, including the Washington Times . Adnan El Shukrijumah was wanted for affiliation with Al-Qaeda and possible terrorist threats against the United States. However, the Honduras encounter never actually took place. The FBI has discarded the idea that there could be any collaboration between MS-13 and Al-Qaeda. In the past, there have been two other cases of gang members convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts against the United States. Neither gang member was part of MS-13, and in both cases, the gang itself did not maintain ties to the terrorist group (Wolf 89-90).
Another false belief is that, as the most violent gang, MS-13 is a nationwide threat.
President Trump recently stated that MS-13 has “literally taken over” several U.S. cities (qtd in Cruz). The Trumpet had a headline that declared “The MS-13 Gang Is a National Threat” (qtd in Cruz). All this focus on MS-13 in the news leads to the belief that MS-13 is the most violent and threatening gang in America. However, MS-13 is not among the biggest gangs in America. With 10,000 members, it is only half the size of the Bloods, and one-fifth the size of the 18th Street Gang. Only 35 murders per year are attributed to MS-13, which is far fewer than the Gangster Disciples in Chicago, a gang that most people have never heard about (Cruz).
A last important misconception about MS-13 is that its members are trying to enter
America illegally by posing as families or unaccompanied minors. According to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, “The kids are being used as pawns by the smugglers and the traffickers. Those are traffickers, those are smugglers and that is MS-13” (qtd. in Dreier). However, less than 1% of all families apprehended at the border are false family claims. And of these false families, none have had proven ties to MS-13. Another belief is that MS-13 members are coming to the United States as unaccompanied minors. But according to the U.S. Border Patrol Acting Chief Carla Provost, from fiscal years 2012-2017, only 56 of the 45,400 children
apprehended by U.S. border patrol had confirmed or suspected ties to MS-13 (United States). While nearly a quarter of MS-13 gang members are unaccompanied minors, most who joined the gang did not do so until after they moved to America (qtd. in Dreier).
Recognizing these misconceptions is important because President Trump is trying to use MS-13 to create fear and stop immigration from Central America. But the truth is, not many gang members are entering the United States from the southern border. Gang members are actually being recruited inside our borders in public schools. Gang recruitment is focused on younger children so they can be loyal to the gang for their entire life. While most immigrant children try to resist the pulls and pressure to join gang life, the promises of protection and inclusion are often irresistible. These are things they can’t find anywhere else. Lack of resources
in public schools also does not help children resist joining a gang. Many schools on Long Island are both extremely segregated and lacking funds. One school district does not even have the money for a busing system. Many of these factors led to a graduation rate of 51 percent in 2016 (Garland). These kids become involved in the gang because they cannot return to their home country, but they are also not accepted here. Our intolerance causes and increases the gang problem.
The American gang culture has been around since the 1800s, when ethnic minorities started being discriminated against. However, as the minorities assimilated to American culture, the gangs disappeared. President Trump is using media to portray Central American immigrants as MS-13 members, who are extremely organized and threatening. He uses this depiction to support deportation and anti-immigration laws. But as fear of immigrants is created, we will only discriminate against these people more, which will fuel the American gang culture. Rather, in order to effectively combat this culture, more research should be done to help understand gangs and motives for joining them. This information should be used to make anti-gang legislation, along with prevention and rehabilitation programs, which will provide these kids better opportunities than entering a gang. This new legislation will better reduce the problem than using
MS-13 as a scapegoat to justify anti-immigration laws and discrimination against our southern neighbors.
Works Cited
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