Sanchez 1

MS 13 “Mara Salvatrucha”

By

Javier Sanchez Cubides

ILAC CANADA 

Pages 6 

  

MS 13 

Introduction 

The United States has been renovating political laws on immigration, making the country an

easy and safe entry for the immigrants who are seeking for better opportunities. The new

immigration laws now accept people from all around the world in order to stay temporarily or

permanently in the U.S. Back in 1790 the laws and people did not use to give a warm

welcome to immigrants in general entering the U.S. During the Civil War in El Salvador the

economic situation was so inadequate that most Salvadorians decided to immigrate to the

U.S, but the conditions that the country offered these people were not the best. A lot of them

were discriminated against and were not accepted in America which put a lot of immigrants'

lives in danger. This was the start of one of the most popular and terrifying gangs around the
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world, “MS 13”.  There are three main reasons as to why old political laws contributed to the

growth of gangs. Previous politics did not offer any benefits nor protection for the

immigrants in the U.S. The immigrants were really looked down upon considering them as

criminals and immigrants looking for a better life were often deported as the U.S. did not

want them. The U.S. considered immigrants as a threat for their country so gangs were

formed to protect these immigrants. 

Immigrants found themselves in a poor neighborhood and the government did

not help them. As a consequence, most of them became involved in illegal and criminal

activities, which created Mara Salvatrucha (MSS) an international criminal gang that was

formed in order to protect the Salvadoran immigrants which eventually became MS 13.

Immigrants had a tough time in the U.S. they were hoping for a better opportunity in life but

instead, it did not offer them any financial or healthcare help. The U.S. had specific

requirements of who could stay in the country. “A 1790 law was the first to specify who

could become a citizen, limiting that privilege to free whites of “good moral character” who

had lived in the U.S.” (Pew Research Center 2015) These qualifications were specifically

hard on immigrants because very few had the privilege to stay in the country especially in

such a short time of 2 years, this made the gang want to protect them even more preventing

them from being deported. In contrast, in 1795 the law was replaced with a new

naturalization act which permitted immigrants to stay 5 years with certain requirements. “The

Naturalization Act of 1802 establishes additional requirements for naturalization such as

good character, allegiance to the Constitution, and a formal declaration of intention. This

statute also requires immigrants to complete an application form with their name, birthplace,

age, nation of allegiance, country of emigration, and place of intended settlement.” (National

Dialogues on immigration 2015) This law is still standing to this day, which permits
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immigrants to settle in the country without having any worry of being deported. This law not

only supports one person but a whole family allowing them to stay in the country together,

this has helped the number of gangs to decrease now that the U.S is actually helping the

immigrants.

The past Neutralization act in 1798 gave a lot of power to the U.S to deport

immigrants, this impeded the livability of the immigrants to stay in the country. The U.S saw

foreigners and immigrants as a real threat from America’s safety, this law was put to

purposely intimidate the immigrants and keep them out of America. “Clearly, the Federalists

saw foreigners as a deep threat to American security. As one Federalist in Congress declared,

there was no need to ‘invite hordes of Wild Irishmen, nor the turbulent and disorderly of all

the world, to come here with a basic view to distract our tranquillity.’”(US History 2020) The

government did not want immigrants in their country because they think they are the main

reason for violence in America. Apart from making the immigrants look like criminals they

did everything in their hands to forbid them from staying any longer in the U.S, gangs started

to form when they saw how the government mistreated the immigrants by not helping them

with the economic problems. Some examples are hunger, no essential services, no justices

and a dignified place to live, the gang's purpose was to let the government see who the real

threats are and how considering them as criminals was only satisfying the government's ego.

Contradictorily, 2 years after this law was set it was enacted, which gave the immigrants a

chance to stay in the U.S with the opportunity to have a better life without the government or

others thinking they are a threat. “The Alien Friends Act authorized the president to imprison

or deport any alien who was deemed dangerous to the U.S. This act was the first to authorize

deportation for immigrants. It expired two years after it was enacted.” (Pew Research Center

2015) Before, immigrants were not seen as people seeking refuge or safety , instead, they were

looked down upon considering them a threat, with the new law it permitted immigrants enter
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the country and have an opportunity to permanently stay. However, many immigrants

struggled in the U.S. because they either left due to the lack of homes or because they were

forced to leave.

Immigrants who came to the U.S were mistreated, left out of resources and, if they

had the opportunity to enter the U.S they had to do tough tests in order to stay. “Immigrants

had to pass a series of reading and writing tests. Many of the poorer immigrants, especially

those from Eastern Europe, had received no education and therefore failed the tests and were

refused entry.” (BBC). The U.S made their entries even harder by putting more rigid tests so

that the numbers will reduce, they took advantage of their disabilities and weaknesses in

order to prevent the entry... “As a result of these concerns, the US Congress passed three laws

to restrict immigration and each law in turn was more severe than the previous one.”(BBC)

Even though many immigrants passed some of these tests, the government made the test

harder and the requirements higher. The innumerable corrupt governments that did not pay

attention to the devastating situation of these immigrants searching for shelter made people

look for options to survive and for that reason enter these types of illegal groups such as MS

13. However, these controversies led to many immigrant communities feeling left out and

considered enemies, this made them stand up for their rights and protest about the issue.

Many politicians felt the need to change their laws and their state of mind, “It led politicians

to feel they could declare intolerance publicly. One Democratic Party candidate in 1920

campaigned in elections under the slogan “Ship or shoot”.” (BBC) This idea from the

immigrant communities, helped the government respect them not as people living in their

countries but also like humans. “It slowed down the emergence of ethnic and racial diversity

in American society.” (BBC) The racial diversity in the country decreased significantly

which gave an opportunity for more immigrants to enter the country for a much better life

and also be respected by Americans and the government.

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To conclude, old laws did not protect nor offer resources to immigrants, they were
considered a threat to the country, and staying in the U.S was almost impossible compared to
the situation in the present. The poor condition of most of the immigrants in the U.S, had
been one of the causes of the creation of the most dangerous gangs in the country. One of the
best representatives is MS 13, this gang started as an answer to the poor conditions of the
neighborhoods in Los Angeles and the less attention that the government has given to them.
The laws in the U.S are more preferable now than it was in the 1790, because now they
receive immigrants from around the world giving them an opportunity of building their lives
in America without any prejudice.
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References

Cohn, D. V. (2015, September 30). How U.S. immigration laws and rules have changed

through history. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/09/30/how-u-s-

immigration-laws-and-rules-have-changed-through-history/

History.com Editors. (2009, November 9). Alien

and Sedition Acts. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/early-us/alien-and-

sedition-acts

Life for immigrants - CCEA - GCSE History

Revision - CCEA - BBC Bitesize. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zcbtk2p/revision/1

The Alien and Sedition Acts. (n.d.). Retrieved

from https://www.ushistory.org/us/19e.asp

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/09/30/how-u-s-immigration-laws-and-rules-

have-changed-through-history/

https://www.history.com/topics/early-us/alien-and-sedition-acts

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zcbtk2p/revision/1

https://www.ushistory.org/us/19e.asp