Elizabeth Kennedy has written a great research piece (based on her research while living in Central America), issued by the American Immigration Councils Immigration Policy Center on why Central American children are fleeing their homes. Importantly, the U.S. is not always the first option. Many move within El Salvador, and there are whole neighborhoods that have been abandoned. According to the Central American University’s Institute of Public Opinion (IUDOP) 2012 Survey, approximately 130,000 Salvadorans were forced to relocate within the country in 2012. One-third had moved previously, because often, the same threats to life re-surface. For example, one adolescent male who had been beat three times for not joining the gang in his neighborhood has already moved three times, and each time, the same gang has found him. Another adolescent male fleeing his neighborhood’s gang had even greater problems with the rival gang when he arrived to his new neighborhood, because they assumed he was already a rival member. An adolescent girl who witnessed her mom’s, brother’s and boyfriend’s murders by gang members has lived in six different parts of El Salvador—and even Guatemala—and each time, the same gang tracked her down. immigrationpolicy.org/perspectives/no-childhood-here-why-central-american-children-are-fleeing-their-homes
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 17:59:38 +0000
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