The MS-13 Gang

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What is the MS 13 gang? Well it stands for Mara Salvatrucha which is commonly abbreviated as MS-13. However, to go into more detail it is a transnational criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles and has spread to other parts of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. The majority of the gang is ethnically composed of Central Americans and active in urban and suburban areas. The gang was initially composed of refugees from El Salvador in the Pico Union neighborhood. The MS-13 gang leaders are known as “palabreros. The gang divides into “cliques” the groups that control MS-13 territory in countries, states, cities and neighborhoods.
It is also referred to as the best known international street gang in the world. Immigration authorities only granted political shelter to a few. The government began a program of deportation of foreign-born residents convicted of a wide range of crimes. The children learned English faster than their parents, who faced discrimination and low wages. As poor migrant teens in Los Angeles, they were caught again in a conflict.
Even though their historical roots lie in Central America and the cities of the United States, much of the recent growth of the MS13 has been concentrated in Mexico. The gang is strongest in the border region with Guatemala, especially the state of
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Deportation plays a large role in the spread and union of international cliques. Los Angeles Times explains deportation issues as a “Merry-go-round”, giving the example of Cruz-Mendoza who, after committing three crimes and “serving little more than a year in jail, Cruz-Mendoza was deported for a third time in January” (Lopez, Connel, Kraul). The technology of deportation and travel, along with National Geographic’s documentaries about MS-13, spread both people and the knowledge of gang activity (World’s