Professional Soldiers ® - Gangs in Central America

An August 2, 2007 Congressional Research Service report to Congress, available through this link:

http://opencrs.com/document/RL34112/

Summary:

Quote:

The 110th Congress maintains a strong interest in the effects of crime and gang violence in Central America, and its spillover effects on the United States. Since February 2005, more than 1,374 members of the violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang have been arrested in cities across the United States. These arrests are raising concerns about the transnational activities of Central American gangs. Governments throughout the region are struggling to find the right combination of suppressive and preventive policies to deal with the gangs. Some analysts assert that increasing U.S. deportations of individuals with criminal records to Central American countries may be contributing to the gang problem. Most experts argue that the repressive anti-gangs laws adopted by El Salvador and Honduras have failed to reduce violence and homicides in those countries, and that law enforcement solutions alone will not solve the gang problem. Analysts also predict that illicit gang activities may accelerate illegal immigration and trafficking in drugs, persons, and weapons to the United States, although a recent United Nations report challenges those assertions. Others maintain that contact between gang members across the regions is increasing, and that this tendency may cause increased gang-related violent crime in the United States. Several U.S. agencies have been actively engaged on both the law enforcement and preventive side of dealing with Central American gangs. The National Security Council (NSC) created an inter-agency task force to develop a comprehensive, threeyear strategy to deal with international gang activity. The strategy, which is now being implemented, states that the U.S. government will pursue coordinated antigang activities through five broad areas: diplomacy, repatriation, law enforcement, capacity enhancement, and prevention. In the 110th Congress, immigration legislation has been introduced ? H.R. 1645 (Gutierrez), S. 330 (Isakson), and S. 1348 (Reid) ? that includes provisions to increase cooperation among U.S., Mexican, and Central American officials in the tracking of gang activity and in the handling of deported gang members. The Housepassed version of the FY2008 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 2764; H.Rept. 110-197) would provide $8 million to the State Department to combat criminal youth gangs, an increase of $3 million from the Administration's request. In Central America, that funding would support a regional anti-gang initiative aimed at prevention, police training, and judicial reform. On July 31, 2007, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved H.Res. 564 (Engel) recognizing that violence poses an increasingly serious threat to peace and stability in Central America and supporting expanded cooperation between the United States and Central America to combat crime and violence. For more information on the activities of Central American gangs in the United States, see the relevant sections of CRS Report RL33400, Youth Gangs: Background, Legislation, and Issues, by Celinda Franco. This report will be updated periodically.