A growing number of illegal immigrants are being allowed to stay in the U.S. because they're asking for asylum in fear of recruitment or retaliation from brutal gangs like MS-13 if they return home to Central America.

"Victor Antonio" bears the evidence of the gang life he left behind. On his calf, a tattoo honoring an MS-13 member he says was stabbed to death by Honduran police. On his chest, he has another tattoo for a girlfriend gunned down by a rival gang.

"I'm 100% sure that if I returned to Honduras I would be assassinated by either the police or the gang," said "Antonio" through a translator.

He says he left MS-13 because he didn't want to be a part of its brutality. "They used violence against women and they would rape them and they would kill members of the community for no reason."

His is no longer unusual. Young Central Americans often face a grim future. "They have two choices, which is leave or join the gangs themselves or be persecuted, harmed, killed, tortured, for not participating with the gangs," said immigration lawyer Linette Tobin.

A young Honduran woman, now living in the D.C. area, would not comply with the gang's demands. "They made certain requests of her. She refused and she was the victim of a very violent gang rape by MS13," said Tobin.

Former gang members aren't the only ones seeking asylum; police officers who cracked down on gang activity are looking for a way out. "He and his family both got death threats and told that if they continued in this kind of activity, they were risking their lives. He finally decided for his own safety and for that of his family, he needed to leave the country," said Geoff Thale with the Washington Office on Latin America.

Immigrant advocates reject the idea that asking for asylum is simply a new strategy to get a visa. "Rather than this being some kind of scam to help somebody live a better life here in the United States, it's an opportunity for us to help protect people," said Thale.

"I have nightmares where the gangs are still trying to come after me to kill me. I'm afraid that the police will harm me. These are things I can never erase," said Antonio.

Antonio now lives with his wife and three children in Montgomery County (web|news) where he does volunteer work with young people to urge them not to join gangs.