Looking Back, Looking Forward: Latino Gang Violence in the U.S.

StartFragment

Since 2006, violence perpetrated by Latin American gangs as a proportion of violence perpetrated by organized gangs in the U.S. has been on the upsurge, although not directly proportional to the statistics for gang-related violence in Mexico. However, there are unmistakeable linkages between U.S.-based Latino gangs and the gangs and cartels in Latin American countries, which directly account for the upsurge in Latino gang-related violence in the U.S. For instance, the Human Rights Watch (2014) estimates that about 60,000 people were killed from 2006-2012 in Mexico and most of these people were killed with arms purchased from the United States. While there is only one legal firearm retailer in Mexico, there are about 6,700 licensed firearm dealers in the U.S. along the 1,900 mile stretch of the U.S.–Mexico border. About 70% of the arms recovered from Mexican criminal activity from 2007-2011 and traced by the U.S. government, originated from the U.S.

Latino gangs are also linked to the U.S. in other ways. For instance, approximately 90% of the cocaine that enters the U.S. transits through Mexico, which is also the main supplier of marijuana and methamphetamines in the U.S. Mexican drug cartels make between $19 and $29 billion annually from U.S. drug sales and a significant portion of the drug money is the result of the activities of U.S.-based Latino gangs, including juvenile gangs that are known to perpetrate the most crime in many jurisdictions across the U.S. These Latino gangs appear to have an expansionist agenda, resulting in their dramatic proliferation as well as their effort to dominate neighborhood gangs and control new U.S. territories.

As drug-based violence have increased in Latin American countries including Mexico correlating with increased gang activities in the U.S., Latino juvenile gangs in the U.S. have increased corresponding to the dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied children who enter the U.S. annually. Yet, not much is known historically about possible connections between increase in gangs or gang-related activities and migration. Thus, how or whether the mass migration of unaccompanied children from Latin America is boosting the Latino gangs and contributing to increased violence is a matter of conjecture. More importantly, very little is known about the threats posed by the intersection of mass migration and gang-related violence on U.S. national defense and security.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explain what is accounting for the growth and strength of Latino gangs in the U.S. and in what ways this has evolved (and changed) over time? Specifically, the study will provide a multi-layer social science insight into this problem, which vexes partisans on both sides of the political divide in the U.S. Thus, by triangulating methods, data, and theory, this study associates the convergence of (and increase in) Mexican gang violence and mass migration with major political currents and socio-demographic shifts.

EndFragment