The scourge of Central America are juvenile gangs. They attract boys beginning at ages 8 or 9 and engage them in alcoholism, drug taking, gang rape, and murder. These gangs are made up of very young men. Here’s a question, though. Why are so many young men in Central America turning to the gang lifestyle starting in elementary school?

The reason is that their parents are not there.

For 30 years, Central American elites have exported human capital for cash. Governments of these countries ran costly ad campaigns to promote the idea that the best, the most responsible way to be a Salvadoran, Honduran, Guatemalan, etc was by not living in El Salvador, Honduras, or Guatemala but instead becoming an illegal migrant in the US. The definition of “Salvadoran” was rewritten to mean “anybody who sends money to El Salvador from overseas”. Please understand that I have researched this for my scholarship and can provide a lengthy bibliography for what I’m saying here.

An entire culture has formed in Central America and the Caribbean where young women are forced by their families and in-laws to become illegal workers in the US hospitality industry. Many end up in less savory industries, too, of course. These women are separated from their children and often don’t see them for years because families back home need a new TV, a new furniture set, an operation, etc, and these poor women have to provide. A woman is usually pushed out of the country (and her child’s life) when the child is about 2 or 3 years old. These children effectively lose their mothers at a young age and often end up – guess where? Yes, in the gangs. This is a phenomenon that has affected millions of people. In the case El Salvador, for example, which is a nation of 6 million people, there are 2,5 million Salvadorans who have been pushed out of the country.

This is a devastating human tragedy. Supporting this horror is not OK. If you look at the large amount of footage of immigrant groups marching towards the US border, you’ll notice that they always carry their national flags. These are people who love their countries, their language, culture, food, their greasy pupusas, their watered down beer. All we need to do is leave them in peace, stop dragging them over because it pleases us to witness their degradation. That’s all we need to do. That way, they’ll finally have a chance to love the way you and I prefer to live, which is at home with our families.