Never to Return: The New Disappeared of El Salvador

For many families in Central American sending communities, the return of a migrant family member will never occur, or will occur only in the form of repatriated remains. Every year, Central American migrants die attempting to cross into the U.S. border region, while others are kidnapped and killed in Mexico by elements of organized crime with the complicity of government officials. The victims are often buried in nameless graves, leaving their families waiting for news of loved ones that will never return. These deaths and disappearances of Central American migrants are inextricably tied to a U.S. immigration policy that has dramatically increased control of the U.S. southwestern border region, and even reached into Mexico to tighten control of Mexico’s border with Central America. The deaths and disappearance of a large number of Salvadoran migrants on the journey to the United States represents another episode of violence and suffering for many Salvadoran families after the many years of deaths and disappearances experienced during El Salvador’s civil war. Coming together in a common search for disappeared migrant family members, Salvadoran mothers have developed collective efforts, such as through the Committee of Family Members of Migrants who have Died or Disappeared, to advocate for support and resources from government officials and institutions in their search for missing migrant children and other relatives, and for addressing the dangers migrants face in their migration to the United States.