Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Biting a Bat and 5 Other Wild Moments From Ozzy Osbourne’s Life

2 hours ago

US Olympic Officials Bar Transgender Women From Women’s Competitions

23 hours ago

Gabbard Releases New Documents Targeting Obama Administration

24 hours ago

US Existing Home Sales Fall More Than Expected in June

1 day ago

Trump Strikes Tariff Deal With Japan, Auto Stocks Surge

1 day ago

Storyland Will Sparkle for All Visitors With $1 Million City of Fresno Grant

2 days ago

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath’s Bat-Biting Frontman, Dies at 76, BBC Reports

2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Seek Help Locating Missing Woman and Infant

2 days ago

US Justice Dept. Asks Epstein Associate Maxwell to Speak to Prosecutors

2 days ago
Newsom Meets Salvadorans Who Tried to Reach US
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
April 9, 2019

Share

PANCHIMALCO, El Salvador — David Escobar Fuentes fled El Salvador because gangs were extorting his ranching family, while Bryon Melgar Menjivar wanted to escape the pressure to join a gang that started when he was 15. Sandra Monroy headed north for a good job.
They told Gov. Gavin Newsom their stories Monday, the second day of his visit to El Salvador. He met them at the country’s only processing center for migrants who are deported from Mexico or the United States.
It was his first opportunity to interact directly with people who have left the small Central American country because of poverty and violence. Later, he traveled to the small mountain town of Panchimalco, the home of indigenous Salvadorans, for a cultural demonstration and conversation on human rights abuses.

15,000 Salvadorans Have Entered US Since October

California has more Salvadorans than any other state, and Newsom is in the country to learn more about why thousands are fleeing for the U.S. About 3,000 unaccompanied Salvadoran children and 12,000 family members have entered the United States since October, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Fuentes and Monroy, his aunt, left for the U.S. in a caravan last October. Both said they hoped to achieve more opportunity, safety and a version of the “American dream.”
“We were so excited because we were going to go to the United States — the wish all Salvadorans have,” Monroy said.
But they never made it. Authorities in Mexico stopped them, held them for three days and then bused them back to El Salvador. They did not share details about why they were stopped.
Menjivar successfully made it to an aunt’s home in Houston several years ago but returned home voluntarily when his mother needed help. He had crossed the border illegally with help from a human smuggler.

Migrants Meet Privately with Governor

Fuentes, Menjivar and Monroy met with Newsom privately after sharing their stories with reporters. The International Organization for Migration chose them to meet with the governor.
Fuentes, 26, and Menjivar, 18, spoke to reporters about how gang violence permeates life in El Salvador, prompting many young men to leave. Violence by gangs has made El Salvador one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with 50 homicides for every 100,000 people. By contrast, the U.S. rate is about five per 100,000.
Fuentes said his family used to own a farm with cattle and goats but was forced to sell many of them off as gangs demanded much of their profits. First his cousin left, then Fuentes decided to join a caravan with Monroy. He had hoped to connect with a friend in Oklahoma after crossing the border.
“Here, the struggle is day by day, you have to survive one day for the other,” he said of El Salvador, saying different gangs hold a grip on each part of the country.
President Donald Trump, who is shaking up his immigration leadership over frustration with a growing number of migrants at the southern border, has accused gang members of posing as migrants to enter the U.S. and bring violence.

Trying to Escape Violence

Monroy said some people in the caravans may be affiliated with gangs but most are trying to escape violence.
Most Salvadorans at the reintegration center are sent back from Mexico, arriving on buses, said Salvador Gutierrez, deputy chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration. The U.S. also deports about three planes of up to 130 migrants per week, he said.
Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, later watched performances at a cultural center that aims to teach children traditional crafting, song and dance to help them build job skills in Panchimalca, a rural community surrounded by largely gang-controlled areas.
Katherine Vasquez, a 17-year-old who performed in one of the dance groups, said that while violence surrounds Panchimalca, she is not scared every day. She likes living there because of its rich traditions rooted in the indigenous culture.
She did not know Newsom before his arrival but said she appreciated the visit.
“I think he can help us to create new programs,” Vasquez said. “It’s good he’s visiting our village because he has an idea about the things that we can do.”
Earlier in the day, Newsom met privately with President Salvador Sánchez Cerén and U.S. Ambassador Jean Manes.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

DON'T MISS

Michael Whatley, RNC Chair, to Run for Senate in North Carolina

DON'T MISS

Meme Stock Surge Underlines Market Froth, Mostly Centred on Retail Investors

DON'T MISS

Afghans Who Aided US Face Taliban Reprisal as Resettlement Programs Slashed

DON'T MISS

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

DON'T MISS

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Gang Member Booked in Attempted Murder of Two Teens

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

DON'T MISS

California Releases Teacher Data. It Shows Big Rise in Hispanic Teachers

DON'T MISS

Biting a Bat and 5 Other Wild Moments From Ozzy Osbourne’s Life

UP NEXT

Afghans Who Aided US Face Taliban Reprisal as Resettlement Programs Slashed

UP NEXT

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

UP NEXT

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

UP NEXT

Justice Department to Assess Claims of ‘Alleged Weaponization’ of US Intelligence Community

UP NEXT

White House Not Denying That Trump’s Name Appears in Epstein Files, Official Says

UP NEXT

White House Taps Mining Expert to Head National Security Office, Sources Say

UP NEXT

Protesters in Tel Aviv Call for Israel to End Hunger and Gaza War

UP NEXT

White House Says WSJ Report on Trump Being Told Name in Epstein Files “Fake News”

UP NEXT

US Judge Rejects Bid to Unseal Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts From Florida Probe

UP NEXT

US Republicans Continue Push to Override California Animal Welfare Law

Afghans Who Aided US Face Taliban Reprisal as Resettlement Programs Slashed

24 minutes ago

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

35 minutes ago

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

37 minutes ago

Tulare County Gang Member Booked in Attempted Murder of Two Teens

41 minutes ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

50 minutes ago

California Releases Teacher Data. It Shows Big Rise in Hispanic Teachers

60 minutes ago

Biting a Bat and 5 Other Wild Moments From Ozzy Osbourne’s Life

2 hours ago

Columbia University, Trump Administration Reach $200 Million Deal Over Funding

16 hours ago

Trump Ally Lindell Wins Appeal in Lawsuit Over $5 Million 2020 Election Contest

16 hours ago

Broadway’s ‘Gypsy’ Revival, Starring Audra McDonald, Will Close

16 hours ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday that TikTok will have to stop operating in the United States if China does not appro...

11 minutes ago

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testifies before a House Appropriations Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump's budget request for the Department of Commerce, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
11 minutes ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

Michael Whatley, the Republican National Committee chairman, addresses the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s conference in Washington, on Saturday, June 22, 2024. Whatley plans to run for the Senate in North Carolina with the backing of President Donald Trump, after Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, declined to run herself, the New York Times reported on July 24, 2025. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)
15 minutes ago

Michael Whatley, RNC Chair, to Run for Senate in North Carolina

A screen displays charts the Dow Jones Industrial Average after the closing bell on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 11, 2025. (Reuters File)
19 minutes ago

Meme Stock Surge Underlines Market Froth, Mostly Centred on Retail Investors

Afghans who supported U.S. forces face potential deportation and Taliban retaliation as the Trump administration dismantles key resettlement programs. (Shutterstock)
24 minutes ago

Afghans Who Aided US Face Taliban Reprisal as Resettlement Programs Slashed

Elon Musk is seen with a bruised eye that Musk claimed he received at the hands of his son, X Æ A-12, as he attends a press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025. (Reuters File)
35 minutes ago

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

The CBS broadcasting logo is seen outside their headquarters in Manhattan, New York, U.S., July 30, 2018. (Reuters File)
37 minutes ago

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

Jose Antonio Hernandez, 25, of Farmersville, was arrested for allegedly shooting at two teens returning from church in Linnell Camp in a gang-related attack. (Tulare County SO)
41 minutes ago

Tulare County Gang Member Booked in Attempted Murder of Two Teens

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office is still searching for Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, who vanished after leaving Fresno on July 15. (Fresno County SO)
50 minutes ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend