Imagine waking up each morning in the midst of a war, the streets outside your home littered with the consequences of the previous night’s violence.
For my mother, a native of El Salvador during the civil war in the turbulent 1980s, this was a daily reality.
She recounted harrowing tales of dodging guerrilla warfare on her way to school, stepping over bodies as if they were part of the urban landscape.
My grandfather, desperate to protect his family, fortified their home with mattresses against the walls and windows, a meager shield against the random gunfire that terrorized their neighborhood.
This backdrop of chaos and fear was not unique to my family. Many Salvadorans fled the country during the civil war, seeking refuge wherever they could find it.
For some, this meant migrating north to Mexico, while others, including relatives of mine, found themselves in Los Angeles, confronted by gang violence.
There, they settled in areas already fraught with gang violence, dominated by groups who viewed the newcomers with suspicion and hostility.
In response to this alienation and the need for communal support, some Salvadorans banded together to form their own group, marking the origins of MS-13—not out of a desire for power or criminal intent, but as a survival strategy amid the hostile urban sprawl of L.A.
However, what started as a means of protection quickly spiraled into notoriety. MS-13 became known for its brutal tactics, a reputation that only intensified under the pressures of street gang culture.
The 1990s saw a significant shift under the Clinton administration, with a new policy of deporting gang members and its impact on crime expansion.
Many MS-13 members, once returned to El Salvador, leveraged their gang affiliations to re-establish and expand their operations.
The gang’s influence spread not just throughout Central America but also to distant shores, establishing branches across the United States, Canada, and even Spain, highlighting its role as a transnational gang.
This expansion transformed MS-13 into one of the most formidable and feared transnational gangs, a far cry from the protective community my mother’s compatriots originally sought.
The story of MS-13 is a stark illustration of how the seeds of violence, once sown, can grow beyond the control of those who planted them, entangling even those who seek only safety in their roots.
