Deporting Gang Members

I was outraged to read another article about the United States’ social injustice, “Los Angeles’ Gang Culture Arrives in El Salvador, Courtesy of the INS” (by Luis Rodriguez, Opinion, May 8). I am a citizen of El Salvador who came to this country in 1972 at the age of 8 with my mother and a younger brother. We grew up in a single-parent household in the Pico-Union district of Los Angeles. Despite having to hold down two jobs, my mother was able to raise two children who went on to graduate from college and obtain responsible positions in the community.

I grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood. Despite popular opinion, gang membership is a personal choice. No one put a gun to my head and forced me to join, tag or participate in criminal behavior.

It is difficult to believe that a native of Chicago who paid a solitary visit to El Salvador understands how the Salvadoran people feel. Though you will find a minority of individuals who agree with Rodriguez, many responsible and accountable Salvadorans feel the U.S. has set itself up for trouble with its tolerance for destructive behavior, i.e., gang activities. I applaud the INS decision of deporting gang members back to their native countries. Rodriguez feels it is social injustice to deport gang members back to an environment to which they are maladjusted. I feel it is a social injustice to keep them here.

Those of us who immigrate to another country do so for many reasons--the most common is better opportunity. What we do with our lives is a matter of parental responsibility and personal accountability. I am a registered nurse working for Los Angeles County; my brother just graduated with his master’s degree in business. We have made the choice not to blame our ethnicity, discrimination, or the United States for problems caused by gangs. We have taken responsibility for our lives.

ANA ALVARADO

Northridge