American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Spreading Gangs: Exporting US Criminal Capital to El Salvador
American Economic Review
(pp. 1985–2024)
Abstract
This paper shows how deportation policies can backfire by disseminating not only ideas between countries but also criminal networks, spreading gangs, in this case, across El Salvador, and spurring migration back to the United States. In 1996, the US Illegal Immigration Responsibility Act increased the number of criminal deportations. In particular, the members of large Salvadoran gangs developed in Los Angeles were sent back to El Salvador. Using variation in criminal deportations over time and across cohorts, combined with geographical variation in US gangs' location, I find that these deportations led to an increase in homicide rates and gang activity, as well as an increase in gang recruitment and migration of children.Citation
Sviatschi, Maria Micaela. 2022. "Spreading Gangs: Exporting US Criminal Capital to El Salvador." American Economic Review 112 (6): 1985–2024. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20201540Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J18 Demographic Economics: Public Policy
- K37 Immigration Law
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements