From 90.9 WBUR Boston’s NPR Station
By, Shannon Dooling
December 18, 2014
El Salvador is roughly 20,000 square km and almost 6 million peopleA 2012 report from the Small Arms Survey found that El Salvador has the highest rate of femicide (the killing of females) in the world. When a person finds support or protection in another country, and they’re forced to return, that is sending him or her back to a certain death – if there’s already a clear link to persecution by gangs, they’re going to kill him or her.
Gang threats are not enough to secure asylum in the US – In fiscal year 2013, when considering asylum applicants who were already in the process of being deported, US immigration courts denied nearly 10 applications for every one granted of Salvadorans.