Should the U.S. Be Sending Criminals to El Salvador?

The Dialogue's Latin American Advisor recently asked Dan Stein (president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in Washington), Douglas Farah (president of IBI Consultants), Christine Wade (professor of political science and international studies at Washington College in Chestertown, Md), and Adam Blackwell (vice president for international at Development Services Group and former Canadian ambassador to the Dominican Republic) to comment on whether the U.S. should be sending criminals to El Salvador.

What will be the security and economic effects of increased deportations to El Salvador? How should the Salvadoran government address the threat of increased violence as a result of gang members returning to Salvadoran soil? Should the United States do more to address the consequences of increased deportations of Salvadorans from the United States?

The deportations of hundreds, if not thousands, of gang members from the US to El Salvador is likely to make conditions in that country worse. We all know that the country's public and private sectors are not prepared to deal with the massive influx of its citizens from the US, regardless of whether they are hardworking and honorable people or whether they have been involved in criminal activity in the US or in El Salvador. Here is the end of Christine Wade's answer

The United States has a moral obligation to assist El Salvador in addressing the consequences of increased deportations, as El Salvador’s present-day security crisis is a direct outcome of U.S. policy in the country. Moreover, current U.S. policy in the region defies logic and the national interest. These deportations will exacerbate the security and displacement crises, strain El Salvador’s economy, and increase migration, placing pressure on both Mexico and the United States 

The US not only has a moral obligation to assist El Salvador with the repatriation of these individuals but it is in its national interest. None of what was discussed at this week's summit in Miami will matter if the US deports large numbers of Salvadorans to the country without a plan backed up by resources. One way to help would be to replace TPS with a path to citizenship.