Gangs in Garden City

the long version

This book is an investigation into the troubling rise of Central American gangs in America's suburbs. For decades, street gangs have been synonymous with inner cities. But in a disturbing new trend, two gangs, Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street, with roots in Central America and Los Angeles, have ventured beyond our urban centers and into America's most exclusive suburbs. In this investigation, the author, a journalist travels from Long Island to Los Angeles to El Salvador, and reveals how these gangs traversed a continent and are transforming our understanding of suburbia. Following the lives of current and former members, she not only explores our false assumptions about gangs, but also shows how immigration raids, rising incarceration rates, suburban decay, and inadequate funding of schools have worsened an alarming situation. This work unveils a hidden troubling world that exists in the shadows of our own.