"Throwing innocents to the wolves"

Thomas Boerman has a good take on one of the lesser emphasized consequences of deporting hundreds of thousands of people currently protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Removals (DACA) in The Real Danger of Rescinding DACA for Commonweal Magazine.

Day-to-day life for millions of people in these countries is defined by violent gangs, drug traffickers, and corrupt police and government officials. Gender-based violence and discrimination and persecution against members of the LGBTI community are rampant. Navigating these hazards requires skills and understanding that the majority of Dreamers could not possibly possess, having left their countries at young ages and having been away for so long. Knowing the “do’s and don’ts” is critical to survival in these countries; lacking that awareness, Dreamers would be particularly vulnerable to predators and victimization.

Generally speaking, Dreamers would be immediately recognized wherever they settled. They’d be at predictably high risk of extortion, with death the punishment for being unwilling or unable to pay; of kidnapping, with their families then facing exorbitant ransom demands that many could not conceivably meet; of being coerced to join gangs and drug-trafficking organizations under threat of torture and death; of sexual predation, including sexual slavery and forced involvement in the commercial sex industry; of violence based on sexual orientation; and of psychological, physical, sexual, and financial abuse in the labor market.   

The region can be a very dangerous place to navigate for people who are unfamiliar with the changing contours of violence. By definition, DACA recipients have been gone from the region for over one decade.