Press Statement

January 31, 2018

CARECEN Denounces President Trump’s State of the Union

Statements Criminalizing Central American Immigrants

Los Angeles, CA – CARECEN-Los Angeles, an organization founded by Salvadoran refugees in 1983, condemns President Trump’s comments on Unaccompanied Minors and the MS-13 gang during his first State of the Union address.

Central American gangs like MS-13 are a distinctly U.S. phenomenon, born of long-standing systematic racism and the failure of the U.S. government to adequately acknowledge the refugees it created through death squads and dictatorships in Central America. This U.S. problem was then exported/deported to Central America, where gang and state violence combine to make life unlivable for a huge section of the population, including the child refugees or unaccompanied children.

“Utilizing this ongoing, long-term tragedy to justify further repression against Central Americans, Latino immigrants, and unaccompanied minors is yet another way this Administration is pushing forward a xenophobic and anti-immigrant agenda”, said Martha Arevalo CARECEN Executive Director. “If the U.S. government truly wants to find a solution to the Central American gang crisis, it must first take responsibility for its role in its creation, admit that the gang war, drug war, and further militarization of Central America are failed policies, and recognize the humanity of Central Americans. We will continue to organize and defend against these vile and politically motivated attacks directed against our immigrant and refugee families.”