Transcripts For WPVI Nightline 20160531

This is a special edition of nightline. Gang land. Good evening. Tonight were taking another look inside one of the most dangerous countries on earth. These gangs from el salvador are now operating in nearly every state of america. Families on both sides of the border caught in a toxic cycle of violence. Reporter its the middle of the night in the murder capital of the world. Something is going on in the area. Reporter were in el salvador on patrol with the cops. This is a very dangerous place. Reporter they take us to this rundown Police Station where theyre holding allegedly vicious combatants in this all out gang war. How many people are they holding here . 169 people in here . [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter im sure you can get a sense of how small this is, but this is tiny. Theyre just piled on top of each other. What does it say on your forehead . [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter 666 he says. Diablo. Theyre only supposed to be in here for 72 hours. How long have you been . . One year. Reporter this place a sign this place may be overwhelmed. Do you ever get to step outside . Nah. Reporter by young people who feel they have no choice but to join a gang. How strong is your bond with other gang members . [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter this is the war next door. In tiny el salvador, just south of the u. S. Border, theres nearly one homicide an hour. Rains, shootings and stabbings, ms 13 as made a trial of shootings in boston. Living in your neighborhoods in california. Reporter and now theres death in america. Active in 46 states. [ speaking Foreign Language ] kill, rape, control. Reporter here in the capital, the two main gangs, ms 13, have carved up the city into warring factions. Its a very hot area. Reporter this is our translator who, like the cops, doesnt want gang members seeing his face and targeting his family. Every night this team from the local morgue heads out to collect the bodies. Its only 9 00 and the body count is already at seven. Seemingly, everybody is at risk here. We find a 23yearold named carlos shot inside his own home after ordering a pizza. This is his mother. [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter it was her baby. She insists her son wasnt even in a gang. [ speaking Foreign Language ] this keeps going all night, every night, 24 7. Reporter were heading into a neighborhood controlled by bario 18. Were going to talk to the gang leader in the neighborhood. We had to get advanced permission before we entered. If you dont get permission before you enter, youre in serious danger. Were here to meet the local gang leader who goes by the name of plavo which is spanish for nail. You control this area . Does that mean you have to resort to violence . Sometimes if we need to go hard, you go hard. Reporter if you walked into an ms area . They kill you. If we go that way, they would maybe kill us too. Reporter thats how fierce the loyalty is . Youll kill someone . Yes. Reporter he moved to virginia where he joined a join and then got deported back to el salvador where his gang life continues. Now he wants to speak back into america in part to escape gang life because he says hes tired of taking orders from the leaders, most of whom are in prison. Even though theyre locked up, they can make a phone call and have somebody killed . Yep. Reporter who would they ask you to kill . Maybe a cop, maybe someone else. Reporter you dont know why . No. You just do it. Reporter thats crazy. Yeah. Its crazy. Reporter and youre saying you do it because if you dont, you feel theyll kill you . Maybe ill be killed. The weapons are mostly used here by gang members are pick axes, machetes and guns. Reporter were at the city morgue with a woman who is a part of a team of archaeologists who identify victims found in unmarked graves, often dismembered. Reporter given this is your job, do you ever lose sight that this is a human life . You do get desensitized. Especially working here in el salvador, theres deaths all around us. Were used to this. Reporter this place is a brisk, efficient, Processing Center for human misery. One technician tells us they see an infinity of death. Every day families come to the morgue to search for the missing, and to identify and collect the dead. [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter we meet araselda. Her 17yearold son was killed last night, alexis. Just two months ago one of her other sons was murdered by the gang. At which point she says she applied for asylum in america for her family. Shes still waiting for a response. [ speaking Foreign Language ] coming up, she invites us to her sons wake where we are completely unprepared for what happens next. [ gunfire ] reporter and well meet a teenager who escaped the gangs by fleeing to america where hes now fighting to stay. This special edition of nightline will be right back. Dad, you can just drop me off right here. 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This grieving mother is holding a wake for her 17yearold son, alexis. Murdered by gangs just last night. And right in the middle of the service [ gunfire ] reporter right there clinging to loved ones, the only remaining son, the likely target. [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter the preachers resume, an act of defiance. A car stopped right here and was shooting at the funeral of this guy. Im nervous. I am. What are we doing . Were going to check with the police. They wont catch the guy. The guy is already gone. Day by day, people live here like this. It happens every day. Reporter and for this mother and her only remaining son, the danger is not over. They have to get through the burial in the morning. The next day we learned that the best hope for avoiding violence at the funeral may come from a man accused of having close ties to the gang, the mayor. He denies the allegations but with our cameras rolling [ speaking Foreign Language ] he actually calls a gang leader and asks the gang to stand down. [ speaking Foreign Language ] [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter the unbroken cycle of madness in el salvador has provoked a massive flood of Illegal Immigrants into united states, including tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors. Once here, they often find themselves targeted by the same gang. Reporter they look like school kids. Absolutely. Reporter were with undercover cops in los angeles. This is where the gangs actually started before spreading throughout the country and the continent. Right in the middle of this neighborhood is a mural with a dude with a machine gun. Reporter they have tent cals all over the use, allegedly engaging in drug dealing, prostitution and extortion, and then sending the proceeds back to the leaders in el salvador. Reporter all the businesses around here, the street vendors, odds are theyre all paying protection money to the gang . Yes. Reporter when did you get into trouble with the gangs . When did they first start threatening you . When i have, like, six and five years, i think. Reporter this is a young man who made the journey to america alone at 13. He recently learned after he left el salvador, gang members hunted down his mother, brother, and little sister. They tried to kill my family, my mother, my little brother, my sister. Reporter its very sad. Yeah. I miss them. Reporter his very survival may hinge on getting asylum here in america. His very life is at stake. Reporter so the stakes couldnt be higher . I dont think they could. Reporter if you dont get asylum and you have to go back, what do you think will happen . They going to kill me. Kill my family. Reporter we went looking for his family in el salvador, and we found them living in fear. We cant go to where she lives because she moves around constantly. She basically lives in hiding from the gangs. So were picking her up now at a mcdonalds and taking her to a safe location to do an interview. His mother and siblings tell us how gang members burst into their apartment one night firing shots. Thats a gunshot wound . Wow. [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter so you put your leg up to protect her head from the gun . Did you tell the cops . No. Reporter why not . [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter are you still scared . Do you miss your brother . No kid should have to live like this. The el salvador is declaring gangs terrorist organizations, but some critics say the police are going way too far. Theyve been accused of forming death squads, and the gangs are hitting back with ferociousness, sending the murder rate to record levels. Reporter are you losing the fights against the gangs . I dont think so. Reporter we ask one of the countrys top cops about the governments current crackdown. Even after this very difficult year, so many people so scared and so many people dead, you still believe this is the right strategy. Yeah. I think were in the right way. Reporter on one of our final days, a top gang leader agrees to speak with us. He says the government doesnt have control. He and the gangs do. Reporter is this just going to get worse . Whats the solution . He says the government is scaring us into war, and as a show of force right on camera, he announces a cease fire between ms 13 and bario 18. The next night we go back to the morgue and crickets. This is really stunning illustration of the power of the gangs. The morgue is at a standstill. Nobody. Within days, however, the vie lens resumes with so many lives hanging in the balance. Coming up, judgment day for francisco. Im a little bit nervous. Reporter and his struggle to stay in america. 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Finally tonight, a Huge Development for francisco, the young man who came to america fleeing the gangs. He just