As part of the Northern Triangle, El Salvador has long been one of the largest sources of illegal migration to the United States. I don’t know if our alleged “Border Czar” Kamala Harris ever figured it out, but there have definitely been some “root causes” of migration in that country. The fact was that, particularly since the country’s civil war in the eighties through the early nineties, El Salvador was simply not a safe place to be. They had among the highest murder rates in the world and armed gangs ruled the streets. This is where MS-13 originated. People left there because they were fleeing for their lives. But today, in a shockingly short period of time, illegal migration from the country has plummeted, as has the murder rate. So how did they do it? Last year, President Nayib Bukele went to war with the gangs, and the government is winning in a big way. As the Wall Street Journal describes it, the country that had the highest murder rate now has the highest incarceration rate. And the people of El Salvador are rewarding their president with some of the highest approval ratings ever seen. (Subscription required)Read More
How is El Salvador doing better than the United States?
