Making bad situations worse: MS-13 in the US and El Salvador

Miranda Cady Hallett assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, at the University of Dayton in Ohio, has a very good op-ed on MS-13 crackdown may make a bad situation worse for the Houston Chronicle. She builds off President Trump's recent Long Island speech during which he encouraged officers to get a little rough with our fellow citizens and immigrant neighbors when suspected of wrongdoing.

Scapegoating immigrants for conditions of insecurity that are much more complicated makes for a rousing speech, but it is more than wrong-headed: Such rhetoric is dangerous, and the practices it encourages are ineffective.

The fiery sentiments produced by these political speeches create a groundswell of support for state policies and practices that undermine the rule of law, foster corruption and encourage the development of a "vigilante" attitude among law enforcement that ultimately undermines the public trust.

Along the way, Trump's discourse fosters the widespread misconception that Latino immigrants are likely to be criminals, when in fact they are statistically less likely to commit violent crimes than people born in the U.S.

President Trump's dangerous rhetoric towards immigrants and MS-13 gang members and his encouragement of police brutality, even if generously interpreted as a joke, are likely to make a bad situation worse. The results could be similar to what right- and left-wing administrations have done with their security policies in El Salvador. Gangs grew stronger, civil rights violations increased, and security forces earned a reputation for brutality. The results were known in advance.