Global Injustice: El Salvador, Martyrdom

In the Stander presentation, “Global Injustice: El Salvador, Martyrdom, and Liberation,” Dr. Hallett and a collection of students discussed the perilous history of the civil war in El Salvador and the ongoing ramifications associated today. Additionally, the group discussed the role of the American government in supporting military dictators in Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as the continual denial by the United States to welcome asylum seekers fleeing strife. In their presentation, the team demonstrated that over the last few decades, El Salvador has experienced devastating infrastructural, political, and social disorder, largely due to the United States involvement in supporting military-organized death squads in the 1980s to curb the …show more content…
Hallett gave a compelling description of the ineffective and inhumane immigration policy the United States embodies, by comparing the policy to prohibition. She demonstrated that the attempt to outlaw immigration is as ineffective and dangerous as banning alcohol because as long as there is political uncertainty and danger in Central America, people will flee to America, regardless of the associated danger or low likelihood of acceptance into the United States. Outlawing immigration does not prevent immigration, but rather creates networks of organized crime, social violence, and community disorganization. For those migrants brave enough to take the journey across several countries from El Salvador and into the United States, violence, robbery, and rape are to be expected. Approximately four out of five women who attempt the dangerous journey to the United States report sexually assault. Many victims of rape are young girls traveling alone. The group reported that because women expect to be raped in their journey, girls as young as nine years old ask for birth control before starting their journey. For men, there is an almost certain expectation of robbery or kidnapping. Unfortunately, the tragedy does not end there. Over the years, thousands of people attempting to migrate to the United States have either been killed partway through their journey or have died during the smuggling process, or from overexertion in the desert heat. Therefore, from a human perspective, the …show more content…
Although the country is post-conflict, El Salvador is far from stability. Gangs and police violence continue to dictate the social sphere. In 2017, thus far, the police have killed more Salvadoran youth than gang violence. The agricultural industry is still in the rebuilding phase, after years of destructed land due to civil war. Unfortunately, stability may never come to El Salvador. According to some sources, global warming and deforestation will make this small Central American country entirely uninhabitable by the year 2080. It is our duty as a nation with immense wealth and resources to welcome those who have been devastated by governmental violence or the environmental repercussions of global