U.S. concerns about gangs are due in part to the role gangs have played in the violence, extortion, and forced recruitment that has fueled internal displacement, as well as the record-level emigration of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) and families to the United States. Members of Congress have also taken an interest in the impact on the gang problem of U.S. deportations of individuals with criminal records to Central America, as well as the evolving relationship between Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and the gangs. This report describes the gang problem in Central America, discusses country approaches to deal with the gangs, and analyzes U.S. policy with respect to gangs in Central America. Transnational Gangs in Central America

The major gangs operating in Central America with ties to the United States are the "18 th Street" gang (also known as M-18), and its main rival, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The northern triangle countries have among the highest homicide rates in the world (see Figure 3 ). Some also maintain that recent reductions in homicides in El Salvador may be due more to a nonaggression pact among the gangs than to the "extraordinary measures" adopted by the government in March 2016. Gangs also engage in sex trafficking involving women and children, particularly in Honduras and in Guatemala City. El Salvador's attorney general is investigating several officials who were involved in facilitating the truce for allegedly providing as much as $25 million to gang leaders and their affiliates. The failed truce in El Salvador and the escalating gang-related violence that has fueled illegal emigration from that country and parts of Honduras since 2014 has refocused attention on gangs in Central America. As Congress has appropriated significant funding for anti-gang efforts, it has also conducted oversight of the efficacy of U.S. programs that affect Central American gangs. Between FY2008 and FY2013, Congress appropriated roughly $38 million in global International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) funds for anti-gang efforts in Central America. Since FY2013, approximately $10 million in Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) funding has been assigned to continue specific anti-gang initiatives. Evolution of U.S. International Anti-gang Efforts

U.S. agencies have been engaged on both the law-enforcement and the preventive side of dealing with Central American gangs for more than a decade. Throughout 2005 and 2006, an interagency committee worked to develop a U.S. Strategy to Combat Criminal Gangs from Central America and Mexico, which was announced at a July 2007 U.S.-Central America Integration System summit on security issues. The strategy stated that the U.S. government would pursue coordinated anti-gang activities in five broad areas: diplomacy, repatriation, law enforcement, capacity enhancement, and prevention. The U.S. government has expanded its citizen-security and law-enforcement programs in Central America beyond anti-gang efforts and antidrug programs through CARSI, a regional security initiative for which Congress appropriated roughly $1.5 billion from FY2008 to FY2016. The Honduran government has provided $3 million from its security tax to support USAID's violence-prevention programming. The TCIUs focus on transnational investigations and border crimes, some of which have a nexus with gangs. U.S. Treasury Department

On October 11, 2012, the Treasury Department designated the MS-13 as a significant TCO whose assets will be targeted for economic sanctions pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581. How effective are regional anti-gang efforts?
The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and its main rival, the "18th Street" gang, continue to undermine citizen security and subvert government authority in parts of Central America. Gang-related violence has been particularly acute in El Salvador, Honduras, and urban areas in Guatemala, contributing to some of the highest homicide rates in the world. Congress has maintained an interest in the effects of gang-related crime and violence on governance, citizen security, and investment in Central America. Congress has examined the role that gang-related violence has played in fueling mixed migration flows, which have included asylum seekers, by families and unaccompanied alien children (UAC) to the United States. Since FY2008, Congress has appropriated funding for anti-gang efforts in Central America.
Central American governments have struggled to address the gang problem. From 2012 to 2014, the government of El Salvador facilitated a historic—and risky—truce involving the country's largest gangs. The truce contributed to a temporary reduction in homicides but strengthened the gangs. Since taking office in June 2014, President Salvador Sanchez Cerén has adopted repression-oriented anti-gang policies similar those implemented in the mid-2000s, including relying on the military to support anti-gang efforts. El Salvador's attorney general is investigating allegations of extrajudicial killings committed by police engaged in anti-gang efforts. Successive Honduran governments have generally relied on suppression-oriented policies toward the gangs as well, with some funding provided in recent years to support community-level prevention programs. The Guatemalan government has generally relied on periodic law-enforcement operations to round up suspected gang members.
U.S. agencies have engaged with Central American governments on gang issues for more than a decade. In July 2007, an interagency committee announced the U.S. Strategy to Combat Criminal Gangs from Central America and Mexico, which emphasized diplomacy, repatriation, law enforcement, capacity enhancement, and prevention. Between FY2008 and FY2013, Congress appropriated roughly $38 million in International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) funds through a special line item for anti-gang efforts in Central America. Since FY2013, approximately $10 million in Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) funding has been assigned to continue those anti-gang initiatives. Significant additional support has been provided through CARSI for violence-prevention efforts in communities affected by gang violence, as well as for vetted police units working on transnational gang cases with U.S. law enforcement. Recently, U.S. and Salvadoran officials have also targeted the financing of MS-13, which the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated as a Transnational Criminal Organization subject to U.S. sanctions in October 2012, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581.
This report describes the gang problem in Central America, discusses country approaches to deal with the gangs, and analyzes U.S. policy with respect to gangs in Central America. Congressional oversight may focus on the efficacy of anti-gang efforts in Central America; the interaction between U.S. domestic and international anti-gang policies, and the potential impact of U.S. sanctions on law-enforcement efforts. See also CRS Report R41731, Central America Regional Security Initiative: Background and Policy Issues for Congress, and CRS Report R43702, Unaccompanied Children from Central America: Foreign Policy Considerations.