The story of MS-13 and its American roots
One of President Donald Trump's favorite rhetorical motifs is stoking
fear that members of the MS-13 gang from El Salvador intend to cross the
U.S. border in force and wreak havoc on American society. It's an
inaccurate scenario, and in State of War, foreign correspondent
William Wheeler tells the real story: In the 1980s, the U.S. supported
the repressive Salvadoran government in a brutal civil war, and many
Salvadoran families fled to America--especially Los Angeles, where
teenagers in poor neighborhoods founded MS-13. A decade later, the U.S.
responded to rising anti-immigrant sentiment by deporting many
Salvadorans back home. Ever since, El Salvador has been one of the most
violent countries in the world.
Wheeler interviewed gang members, frustrated intelligence officers, and
crime investigators who give chilling insider reports of how corruption
at the highest levels has helped the gangs become stronger, richer, and
more influential than ever. State of War makes vividly clear why
Salvadorans are fleeing their country, and why Trump's harsh immigration
and asylum policies may only empower the gangs more.
"A gripping, electrifying study of the brutal Salvadoran gang
culture." --Mark Danner, author of The Massacre at El Mozote