Weekly Report - 12 April 2005

With the US invited to join the Central American countries and Mexico in a joint effort to deal with the mara street gangs [WR-05-13], the media in the US, and particularly the Spanish-language media, have been wondering aloud whether the US can provide any useful guide to action. Media attention last week was prompted by two events involving gangs: a campaign of mass arrests by the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a scheme by Los Angeles mayor James Hahn to use city-wide 'gang injunctions' as a tool.