Tattoos of deported Venezuelans don't necessarily signal gang affiliation, experts say
Nike’s Jumpman, roses and a popular phrase from a Donald Trump-supporting Puerto Rican rapper: These are some of the tattoos defense lawyers and relatives say helped authorities accuse several Venezuelan men of belonging to Tren de Aragua gang.
Nike’s Jumpman, roses and a popular phrase from a Donald Trump-supporting Puerto Rican rapper: These are some of the tattoos defense lawyers and relatives say helped authorities accuse several Venezuelan men of belonging to Tren de Aragua gang.
The men were not deported to their homeland last weekend but were instead sent to El Salvador, where they were jailed in a notorious megaprison, raising questions about whether they were given due process.
Lawyers for at least five men have said in court filings this week that the U.S. government apprehended their clients in part because of tattoos that immigration authorities believed signaled ties to the gang.
Law enforcement and immigration officials have said in the past they’ve had a challenging time identifying legitimate members of the Venezuelan criminal organization. Often the only information they do have to identify individuals is alleged gang tattoos.
In the case of the recent deportation flights, Robert Cerna, the acting field office director of enforcement and removal operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a sworn declaration on Monday that officials did not solely rely on tattoos to identify the deportees as alleged gang members.
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