One Opportunity
Salvadoran refugee escapes gang wars to
seek peace and security in US
By: Andrew Noerr, Feature Writing
student (2/3/14)
Disclaimer:
The subject of this story was given an alias to protect his identity.
Javier
Sandoval is a refugee from El Salvador who escaped to the United States when he
was 18 years old. A medium-sized young man with black hair who is not afraid to
share a laugh at any moment, Sandoval opened up about his life inside the
living room of a comfortable home in Marin County. When he first arrived in the
US, his mindset was simple: All that is needed for success is one
opportunity, and then hard work and dedication will reward you from there.
“Down there (in El
Salvador), we say that the United States…. has thousands of opportunities. If
you get one opportunity, then you are the cool one,” Sandoval says while
laughing. “That’s all you need.”
For
Sandoval, he got that one opportunity while living with some of his uncles
illegally. After looking for work, he finally got a job at a solar distribution
company in Sacramento. He has worked there ever since, and it has built a
foundation for him to pursue even more success. Sandoval revealed that he will
soon work towards getting a GED in order to pursue a better job.
During his childhood
though, Sandoval was prone to many hardships that plagued him and his family.
He dealt with many issues that were mostly associated to gang wars occurring in
El Salvador. However, one of the biggest challenges in his life had already
been presented to him the day he was born.
“I
never met my father,” Sandoval admits. “When my mom met my dad, he got… killed.
My mom was three months pregnant when that happened.”
Even
without a father, Sandoval still lived with his mother and worked hard at a young
age. He attended elementary school in his hometown Santana, and then he went to
San Jose High School in San Salvador. In El Salvador though, doing well in
school was not the only focus for kids seeking to survive on a daily basis.
Sandoval says that walking in the streets alone was extremely dangerous.
“Down
there (in El Salvador), we have a lot of fighting… and war,” Sandoval states.
“(There are) gangs. Every month, they ask you… to make a payment to them.
(It’s) just to be safe… (or) they’ll do something to your family.”
Sandoval
later revealed that there are two gangs in particular that are wreaking havoc
in the streets of El Salvador. These gangs are called Mara Salvatrucha and Mara
18. These gangs are prominent in many countries in Central America, but
according to InSight Crime, Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18 actually sprung out of
neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California. Once the US started to deport gang
members back to El Salvador in the ‘90s, they simply continued their life of
crime in their home countries where violence and chaos were already present.
Even
worse, the police in El Salvador are often paid by gangs to neglect crimes that
occur in many cities. It was this and the allure of peace and security in the
United States that prompted Sandoval to escape the country with members from
his dad’s side of the family. He only found a place to live because his grandma
had already come to the US illegally and found a home for herself years before
he came.
Now
for the past three and a half years, Sandoval has worked hard to keep himself
afloat in American society. Asked where he would like to be ten years from now,
Sandoval let it be known that for him, it’s not just about achieving the
American Dream. While he has a desire to visit his family in El Salvador more
often, he really just wants to feel what it’s like to achieve success in the
United States.
“I
just want to be proud of myself,” he says with a smile on his face.
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