U.S. Deports Over 200 Venezuelans
Held in El Salvador's CECOT... Reasons for Deportation Revealed
Claims Emerge: "Decisions Made Based on Tattoos Without Legal Grounds"
The U.S. government is facing controversy over allegations that it considered individuals with certain tattoos as gang members and selected them for deportation. On the 23rd (local time), Yonhap News Agency reported, citing local media including El Salvador's daily 'La Prensa Grafica,' that "the Trump administration deported about 200 Venezuelan nationals from the U.S. to El Salvador, stating that they were linked to the international drug trafficking and violent group 'Tren de Aragua'." Tren de Aragua, an international drug trafficking gang, was designated last month by the U.S. Department of State as one of eight 'Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).'
Josefina Romero, who has a son imprisoned in El Salvador after being deported from the United States, is seen on the 20th (local time) kissing a photo of her son and mourning. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News
However, lawyers for the deported Venezuelan nationals claim that "U.S. authorities have not presented legitimate evidence that these individuals are actual gang members or related to gangs." In some cases, the basis for the U.S. authorities' judgment that deportees were connected to Tren de Aragua was "tattoos with designs such as crowns, flowers, or eyeballs." In other words, the decision to deport was made based on tattoos without proper legal grounds.
According to the media, there have been similar cases before. Court documents from a case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where Venezuelan professional soccer player Reyes Barrios filed a motion to cancel a deportation order, reveal that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) considered Barrios, who has no criminal record, as evidence of gang membership because he had tattoos of "crowns, soccer balls, and Dios (meaning God in Spanish)" on his arm. However, this has been countered by claims that the tattoo resembles the logo of Real Madrid, a prestigious team in Spain's professional soccer league (La Liga).
In another case involving a Venezuelan deportee, a 'rose petal' tattoo on his left hand played a decisive role in being perceived as a gang member. He reportedly claimed that he got the tattoo last year in Arlington, Texas, simply because he thought it looked cool.
Venezuelan nationals deported from the U.S. are held in El Salvador's Terrorist Detention Center (CECOT), the largest detention facility in Central and South America. According to international human rights organizations, detainees at CECOT are unable to contact family or lawyers and often have to attend trials online instead of appearing in court. Additionally, there have been frequent situations where hundreds of defendants are grouped into a single trial case, sparking controversies over 'human rights violations.'
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