Young Central American asylum seekers fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries are increasingly falling prey to the notorious MS-13 gang in the United States, authorities say.
The youngsters, most of them from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, are proving to be easy targets for the gang which takes advantage of their vulnerability as immigrants.
"They are young victims who very likely left their countries in the hope that they would find security and prosperity in the United States," Los Angeles County district attorney Jackie Lacey said last week as she announced a sweeping indictment against 22 members of the gang.
"Instead, these victims had the misfortune of crossing paths with violent gang members who preyed on the vulnerabilities of their immigrant experience," he added.
According to 2009 FBI statistics, MS-13 is one of the largest Hispanic street gangs in the US, operating mainly out of Los Angeles, where it was formed, as well as other states including Atlanta, Dallas and New York.
The gang, which is behind a number of heinous killings, is estimated to have 30,000 to 50,000 members worldwide, with between 8,000 and 10,000 in the US.
Authorities say the gang, which is involved in drug smuggling, prostitution rings, weapons trafficking and alien smuggling, focuses on extorting and threatening the Latino community in the areas where it operates, making new Central American arrivals -- especially unaccompanied youngsters -- ideal targets.
Mark Edberg, a professor at George Washington University, said many teen migrants end up in the US in communities where the same gang they were fleeing from catches up with them.
"They basically feel pressure to join because now they´re here, they ran and they´re still being monitored by the gang," Edberg told AFP.
He added that as the political discourse in the United States toward asylum seekers has gotten more toxic, social support for new arrivals has also decreased.
