In response to stepped up plans to deport Central Americans from the United States to their countries of origin, hundreds gathered on Wednesday to protest in front of the White House in Washington DC.

As revealed in a Dec 23 article published in The Washington Post, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to begin targeted raids in January. “The nationwide campaign, to be carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as soon as early January, would be the first large-scale effort to deport families who have fled violence in Central America, those familiar with the plan said.”[1]

According to the article, the plan would concentrate on adults and children who have already been ordered to repatriate by an immigration judge, while admitting that due to disorganization, many were unaware of the orders.

A leader who has emerged in the struggle against deportation is Gustavo Torres , executive director of Casa de Maryland, an organization that has been helping Central American refugees since 1985. Speaking at the protest, Torres said, “We want to tell the Department of Security and President Obama that if they continue with this plan, those families, those children are going to be murdered in their countries of origin.”[2]

Torres emphasized that Central American migrants should qualify as refugees because Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the three countries that are the subject of the deportations, are experiencing their worst levels of violence over the last 30 years.

“We want them to give these refugees a TPS (temporary protection status) and stop the deportations. That’s why we are here,” the activist said in an interview with Notimex.[3]
Casa de Maryland and other like-minded organizations have prepared a proposal that includes the creation of a national network of lawyers, social workers, community organizations and volunteers to ensure the refugees’ protection.

They are also putting out an educational campaign to inform the community of their rights in case migration authorities come to their homes.  “We want to tell them that no matter your migration status, you still have rights.” In the ensuing days, Torres has appeared on Spanish language television network Univisión with advice for families under threat. “If immigration comes to your home, do not open up. They have to slip the deportation papers under the door.”

Central America has been experiencing extreme levels of violence, with young people being targeted by gangs such as the Mara Salvatruchas, or MS-13, and Barrio 18, originally known as the 18th Street Gang, due to its origins on the streets of Los Angeles. In fact, both gangs, or “pandillas,” as they are called in El Salvador, owe their existence to enhanced U.S. deportation policy under the Clinton administration in the 1990s, implemented at a time the country was emerging from civil war and had disbanded its police force. Gang members formed on the streets of L.A. with nominal ties to their places of birth were deported and, coupled with the lack of an extradition treaty, other criminals took to Central America to hide out. According to a New York Times article from the period, “The situation may be especially serious here, but El Salvador is by no means alone in its alarm at Washington’s policy on deportees. Throughout Central America and the Caribbean, from Guatemala east to Guyana, government officials have expressed anger and frustration at a crisis they regard as foisted on them by the United States and beyond their ability to control.”[4]

“Mr. President, our community is tired of running from the violence and now from ICE. We are demanding a breath of hope,” said an Honduran immigrant identified as Josué at the protest.[5]

“We are going through a terrible crisis in El Salvador in which our young people are being tortured, kidnapped, experiencing great violence and much bloodshed. That’s why it is so disturbing that they are putting this plan for massive deportations into place,” Salvadoran Lidia Rivas decried.[6]

Of the almost 70,000 children apprehended in 2014 as they tried to enter the United States without documentation, 73% of them were from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.[7] Despite recent legislation such as the DREAM Act (whose acronym stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans), the Central Americans are considered a priority for deportation under the new DHS guidelines, which prioritizes the recently arrived and those who have no ties to anyone already in the United States.

Danica Jorden is a writer and translator of Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and other languages.  danica.jorden1 [at] gmail.com

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-plans-raids-to-deport-families-who-surged-across-border/2015/12/23/034fc954-a9bd-11e5-8058-480b572b4aae_story.html
[2] http://wearecasa.org/who-we-are/
[3][5][6] http://www.sinembargo.mx/30-12-2015/1588513
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/10/world/in-us-deportation-policy-a-pandora-s-box.html?pagewanted=all
[7] http://www.univision.com/noticias/indocumentados/quienes-son-los-migrantes-centroamericanos-prioritarios-para-la-deportacion-que-planifica-el-dhs