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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador—One by one, they told Governor Gavin Newsom of California their stories, the same stories they shared with reporters before meeting the first sitting U.S. governor to visit their country.
Byron Melgar, 18, fled the San Salvador suburb of Mejicanos for the United States, crossing the border illegally to stay with his aunt in Houston, to escape gangs that pressured him to join, making him so afraid "I would never leave my house, never go out."
Sandra Monroy, 42, joined a migrant caravan last October "because we don't have a job. That is what is moving us, the lack of jobs. There are no jobs for us, to survive. That's why we had to leave."
"They all aspire to the dream," Newsom told reporters. "Everybody seeks a better life. It's the story of our time. How do you begrudge someone for wanting something better or more for their children, for the people they love?
Newsom came to El Salvador Sunday to learn the root causes of migration from Central America's Northern Triangle. After only two days here, he said he's already achieved his goal. "I feel very empowered," he told KCBS Radio. "When I come back home, I'm going to feel a renewed sense of vigor, but a deeper understanding than I could ever get, as someone suggested, behind a desk."
Newsom has faced criticism back in California for this trip, with some suggesting it's inappropriate for a governor to dabble in what would typically be the portfolio of a president, and that he didn't need to travel to El Salvador to discover that migrants are motivated by poverty and violence.
Newsom also met privately Monday with the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Jean Manes, a career diplomat who came to this post during the Obama administration, and with outgoing Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren. He concludes his trip Tuesday with another long day of official events, including a roundtable on gang intervention and a meeting with President-elect Nayib Bukele.