By Anna Lee Mraz
“I left the country because I had a small business where local gangs would come every week to take part of what I earned, what they call ‘rent,’ and because of the state of emergency imposed by the government,” says Esmeralda, a Salvadoran mother who now lives in the Bay Area.
Her remarks point to the ongoing threat of gang violence in El Salvador and, under Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, the looming threat of state violence.
Seeking asylum in the U.S., Esmeralda (we are not using her real name to protect her identity) recounted her journey from El Salvador, where she says repressive policies under the Bukele government, including widespread mis- and dis-information on social media, have been turned against not just gangs but ordinary citizens.
The consequences, she says, have scarred both her and her family, as well as the wider Salvadoran society under a government that has conflated security with authoritarianism.
Still, the decision to leave was not easy. For months, Esmeralda says she faced extortion and threats from local criminals, but what ultimately drove her to flee was the “violent” arrest of her sister. “They came at midnight, they forced her to her knees, they handcuffed her, struck her in her back with their elbows… without any sort of investigation.”
Her sister, who ran a small pizzeria, had been accused of collaborating with Mara Salvatrucha, otherwise known as MS-13, a transnational gang active in El Salvador but with its roots in Los Angeles, California. “They accused her of collecting extortion money and of feeding gang members, none of which is true.”
It was the last straw, she says.
“They had her phone, they could have checked her messages or chats,” says Esmeralda, explaining that her sister had recently taken out a bank loan to support her business, money local police took to be proof of her criminal activity. “There have been many such arrests,” she adds, of people like her sister who, through hard work, manage to save a little and are later “taken away.”
Things got worse when Esmeralda’s husband became the target of a defamation campaign on social media after he posted a comment on Facebook criticizing the government and defending an acquaintance who had been unjustly targeted by authorities.
“All he said was that it would be better for us to worry about our own families, that the person in question was a hard worker… and that there is a lot of room for error in the government’s policies.” Hours later, on the same feed, he was accused of collaborating with gangs in extorting local businesses. “It was like a fuse,” says Esmeralda.
She didn’t sleep that night. “We spent two sleepless nights before the police arrived looking for my husband. They threatened us with arrest, saying we would have no way to defend ourselves.” Under the state of emergency, imposed in March of 2022, there are no rights. “They just take you away.”
With tears in her eyes, she recalled as well how her husband had been singled out for having a tattoo. “It’s a bird on his shoulder,” she explained. “But for the regime, having a tattoo is all the evidence they need to label you a gang member.”
According to Esmeralda, the government’s repressive policies are hitting poor and working-class communities in El Salvador the hardest. “Small business owners, people who have lifted themselves out of poverty… they’ve been taken.” Even people with past records who have already served their time and paid their dues are being targeted, she says. “I believe that if someone serves a sentence, they can’t be punished again for the same crime.”
Her voice breaks when she speaks of her two daughters, 14 and 18. “They asked me why we were leaving, why they were leaving their school and their friends behind. All I could tell them was that we were under threat and couldn’t stay.”
With a court date for her asylum application scheduled for later this year, Esmeralda says she’s been watching with alarm the ongoing ICE raids hitting communities across California and the rest of the country. “You can’t even go out to shop for groceries because there are always these rumors that ICE is in the area, that they are arresting people, even those here legally. And I still don’t have papers.”
The fear of being detained torments her, she says. “I don’t sleep well… I live with the fear of being sent back to the country I fled.”
She continues, “I don’t know what will happen. I’ve heard a lot of people are being arrested on their way to court.”
Numerous headlines in recent weeks have in fact detailed ICE arrests of immigrants outside courthouses in cities across the country. Immigrant rights groups have filed suit against the Trump administration, claiming such arrests violate due process rights afforded to all in the country regardless of immigration status.
Until her court date arrives, Esmeralda says she continues to live in between fear and hope. “I pray that when that date comes, there will be a solution… that they will give me the opportunity to present my case and to move forward with my life.”
This story was produced as part of “Aquí Estamos/Here We Stand,” a collaborative reporting project of American Community Media and ethnic/community news outlets statewide.
