Families Of Central America Fleeing To U.S. As Gangs Take Over

Economic desperation in Central American nations such as El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala has become the spark to a rise in gang violence and is now causing a massive exodus of fearful families and individuals from the nations. They now seek safety in other countries, with many heading to the United States for protection.

A man named Alberto had never before considered leaving El Salvador, He and his wife had good jobs and the support of friends and family. They have five happy children. However, recently a local gang had tried to recruit Alberto’s sons to be drug mules and beat him up when he disallowed it. A gang leader also approached his 10-year-old daughter and stated that he would make her his girlfriend. Not long after, the family received a phone call threatening to kill them if they did not hand over the children for gang use. They even found the corpse of a young boy in the front of their home. The family immediately fled north, taking only the items they could carry.

Central American gang violence and #poverty force thousands of kids to #illegal entry to US https://t.co/L4HPParpEN pic.twitter.com/mptUixGPm5

— DW – Business (@dw_business) August 24, 2016

While sitting in a shelter in a small Mexican city, Tapachula, Alberto stated, “We can’t just hand them over to the gang,” as the New York Times shares.

Even though there have been American efforts to tighten borders and determine the cause of the mass exodus, American as well as international officials state that the numbers of migrants have soared in the past year and many are considering it a refugee crisis, as Perrine Leclerc, head of the field office for the United Nations refugee agency in Tapachula states.

The publication notes the statistics related to the current crisis.

“In the 2016 fiscal year, nearly 409,000 migrants were caught trying to cross the southwestern border of the United States illegally, a 23 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, according to statistics released by the Obama administration. Officials said the increase was a reflection of the growing number of people heading north, not the result of any sweeping changes in enforcement.”

The trend has reportedly continued through October, according to figures that were made known on Thursday. More than 46, 000 people were discovered last month alone on the southwestern border, which was up from 39,500 in September.

UN: Thousands of Central American children trying to escape gang violence and poverty have made their way to US. https://t.co/MAZLDc1Mwt

— Crave for News (@CraveForNews) August 23, 2016

The trend has been even more notable seeing as many of the migrants are traveling as families. About 77,000 migrants in the most recent year that were caught at the border, were traveling with entire families which is almost twice as many from the previous year. Approximately 91 percent of those were traveling from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Although some American officials have shared a theory that families are migrating together in hopes that the adults have a greater chance of avoiding being detained in the United States if they try to cross the border with children, interviews with migrant state that families are fleeing because they have no other alternative. Gangs within the said nations have become ruthless and merciless and their control is widespread, which leaves only the choice to comply, flee or face death.

“Today the violence is widespread, and because it’s widespread, it’s affecting the whole family,” said Diego Lorente, the director of the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center in Tapachula.

Almost all of the migrants interviewed by the publication share that they previously had no intention of ever leaving their countries. Alberto shared that he had a very successful business breeding livestock and dogs while his wife ran a food stand. Their children were also on track to attend college and were active members of the local church. The family first fled in 2013 to northern El Salvador, where Alberto rebuilt the business, but the gang members sought them out and found them, which forced them to move two more times. They finally fled the country in March.

“What can I say?” Alberto said with a sigh.

“This is the horrible reality that our country is living now.”

Mexico is under international pressure and has therefore been expanding its capacity to allow refugees. Tapachula is the first place that such families reach where they finally feel security and safety, yet the shelters are filling and almost at capacity.

[Feature Image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]