Exporting Gangs

This article about the visit of a Montgomery County (MD) executive, who plans to run for governor, to El Salvador mentions some very pressing issues about one of the worst exports to El Salvador since the civil war ended in 1992, gangs. During the civil war, refugees fled El Salvador and were granted asylum in the United States. However, many youths joined gangs in their new cities. When they were caught committing crimes, they were deported back to El Salvador, where they started new branches of the gangs they were part of in the U.S. Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear about gang violence committed by members of gangs with the names of gangs in the U.S., particularly Los Angeles. Stopping the problem has proved difficult, even with the government's excessively harsh no-tolerance policy (which is questionable for a country that is aspiring to be a democracy). It is good policy for there to be sharing of information about possible solutions to the root causes of the export of gangs, and should be continuted and broadened in order to stem the tide of gang export.