[6] As of 29 January 2025[update], over 84,200 people accused of having gang affiliations have been arrested,[6] which has overcrowded El Salvador's prisons and has led the country to have the highest incarceration rate in the world by 2023.

These gangs arrived in El Salvador in the 1990s after the United States began deporting refugees back to the country after the civil war's conclusion in 1992.

The gangs intimidated people to not report crimes to the police with the unwritten rule of "see, hear, and be quiet" ("ver, oír y callar") under threat of violence, often through murdering or raping relatives.

[29] In December 2021, the United States government accused Bukele of negotiating a secret agreement with the gangs, reducing violence in return for financial and prison benefits.

[36] William Eulises Soriano Herrera, a member of Bukele's Nuevas Ideas party, suggested the spike in violence was retaliation for the government's seizing control of two bus routes in the capital, which gangs often extort for revenue;[28] according to José Miguel Cruz, a research director at Florida International University, the gangs may have been sending a message to the government to try to obtain better terms.

[28][36] The government also restricted the ability of judges to offer prisoners alternatives to pre-trial detention, like bail and house arrest.

[40] They also passed a law that threatens anyone who reproduces or disseminates messages from gangs, including news media, with ten to fifteen years in prison.

[41] The government deployed additional police and military forces,[42] raiding houses and creating checkpoints surrounding neighborhoods with known gang presences.

[25] Soldiers checked everyone for identification cards and proof of address,[36] searched their vehicles and backpacks,[28] and refused to let anyone enter or leave without what they considered a legitimate reason.

[35] Rations for prisoners were reduced to two meals each day[34] consisting of only beans and tortillas;[25] Bukele explained that he would "not take budget away from schools to feed these terrorists".

[44] On 3 November 2022, Osiris Luna Meza, the minister of justice, announced that the government would begin destroying gravestones belonging to members of gangs to prevent them from becoming "shrines", stating "terrorists will no longer be able to 'glorify' the memory of dead criminals".

[52] In general, the people living in El Salvador consider the atmosphere in the neighborhoods to be much safer, with citizens and observers saying they feel far more free to do what would have been previously considered unthinkable, with Ioan Grillo writing "I have interviewed dozens of gang members in visits over the years; you could often find them openly hanging out in the centre of neighbourhoods.

Veronica Reyna, a researcher from El Salvador, was quoted as saying: “The gangs exercised control because no one else would— If the state doesn’t fill this vacuum— not just with police but education and other services— other criminal groups will step in."

So far the government has promised to deal with these issues with initiatives such as Mi Nueva Escuela (My New School) which aims to improve the educational situation through curriculum reform, teacher training, arrangement of quality didactic, technological, health, and nutritional facilities, as well as the remodeling of more than 5,000 schools over the next five years and CUBOs (Urban Centers) which aims to provide impoverished youths with safe spaces being launched.

One thousand schools are expected to be rebuilt until September 2023 under Mi Nueva Escuela, while 11 transparent, cube-shaped urban centers in poor communities, offering young people academic support, athletic activities, and art or language classes with access to computers, a library with cozy cushions for reading and adult supervision have already been built as of May 2023.

[needs update] While these initiatives have been appreciated, activists feel that more work is required as children in some areas still lack access to schools.

In Peru, the Mayor of Lima and right-wing presidential hopeful Rafael López Aliaga has praised the policies and called on the Peruvian Defense Ministry to allow the Peruvian Armed Forces to patrol the streets of Lima, including with tanks while Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, who narrowly lost the 2022 Colombian presidential election had promised similar policies.

[67] Daniel Quintero, the mayor of Medellín in Colombia, has also announced that he would be opening a prison in a similar style to the megaprisons run in El Salvador.

[74][75] Human rights advocates have criticized the arrests as often arbitrary, based on a person's appearance or residence, and expressed concern that innocent people are being caught in the sweeps.

[77] Human rights groups have also expressed concern that the arrests have little to do with gang violence, suggesting Bukele will use them to consolidate power and target critics.

[35] In a tweet on 10 April, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "condemn[ed]" the increase in gang violence in El Salvador and "urge[d]" the government to respect due process and civil liberties.

[79] The next day, Bukele responded that United States' support against Salvadoran gangs had come under the Trump administration, citing the withdrawal of American aid from the National Civil Police and Institute for Access to Public Information four months into the Biden administration, and saying that the United States now only supported the civil liberties of gangs.