‘Deported because of his tattoos’: has the US targeted Venezuelans for their body art? | US immigration
Like many Venezuelans of his generation, Franco Jose Carrabalu Tiaba is a man of many tattoos.
There is one of the rose, one of the lion, and the other-on the left side of the 26-year-old-shave code representing his work as a stainless.
Two other tattoos of Karabalo’s older daughter, Shalom: a pocket watch with a time of birth and some black letters on his chest that spells the four -year -old name.
“He is just an ordinary child … he loves tattoos-this is everything,” said Martin Roseno, a lawyer-based lawyer in Florida. The researcher represents the Venezuelan asylum. The grades were shipped to El Salvador by the Trump administration at the end of last week As part of his militant immigration campaign.
Carabalo’s passion for body art may be declining. Because when the father of two was arrested by American immigration officials in Dallas last month, they seem to have taken these tattoos as evidence that he was a member of The most famous gangs in Venezuela, Treen de Arago.
An official document of the Ministry of Internal Security issued in early February and reviewed by the guardian countries: “[The] topic [Caraballo] It was identified as a member/active in Tren de Aragua “although he does not explain how the agents have reached this conclusion. The same document notes that Carappalo – which he calls” a foreign/excluded “foreign – has many tattoos and not the known criminal history” at this time. “
Rosenow rejected the idea that the images that were implemented on the skin of its client indicate the gang membership. “It is deceptive – there is no basis [for this conclusion]He said: “Experts in Venezuela who study the gang are all that there is no tattoo linking the gang members. Not like the MS-13 gang in Central America where the tattoo is related to their organization.”
“Tren de Agua has no [specific] Follow the tattoo, “If you see the pictures [of actual Tren de Aragua members arrested in the US]They are without a shirt and many of them have no tattoo.
“I am angry at everything. I am sad about these individuals. I am sad about the meaning of this. As an American, for me, it is impressive that we screaming human rights at the international level.”
Karaabalo, from the Venezuelan state of Bolivar and entered the United States on its southern border in October 2023, is one of the many Venezuelan who seem to have migration officials have identified the members of the gangs based on more than their nationality and tattooing.
Daniel Alberto Luzano Camargo
Daniel Alberto Luzano Camargo, a 20 -year -old asylum seeker from Maracapo in West Venezuela, in Houston, Texas, where cars washed for a livelihood, and announces his services on Facebook.
His partner, an American citizen named Leslie Aranda, said he was arrested last November after contacting him by a supposed agent. You have not heard from him since last Friday, when Donald Trump protested with wartime time authorities, they called the law of foreign enemies to deport people who consider a threat, such as the members of Trin de Aragoa, which was last month. It identified a foreign terrorist organization.
Aranda, 25, who is now detained in the risk of deportation, has many tattoos. rose. The name of his sister’s daughter, Yormar, with a crown on the message E. He prays my hand on his neck. His father’s name, Adalbero, and his first letters. Lozano also has the date of the anniversary of Aranda: January 19, 2023. Another tattoo reads “a psychological king”.
“I know his father’s name is important for him because he died when Daniel was young. I also know that he did not really like a tattoo of roses because a friend was practicing it,” said Aranda.
“They have violated human rights – it’s injustice. It does not belong to any gang,” said Luzano’s mother, Daniela, also in the United States.
Neri Jose Alvarado Borges
Neri José alvarado Borges, another Venezuelan who has been deported SalvadorThe 24 -year -old also said the tattoo that relatives suspected may have been identified by a criminal.
One of them says, “The Family”, and the other says “brothers”, and the third, on his left thigh, includes the name of his younger brother, Nirilson, which is autism, and an infinite symbol in a rainbow color for the movement of autism.
“None of these tattoos is absolutely nothing to do with Tren de Aragua,” said his sister to Lesn Genterthy Montella, 20. [immigration authorities] Anyone has a tattoo connected to Tren De Aragua. “
Montella said her brother was not gangs. In fact, he was a student in psychology who was forced to abandon his studies and immigrate to the United States nine months ago Venezuela’s economic collapse.
After the trips through the risky Darién GAP forest and the entry of the United States, Alvarado, who had no criminal history, built a life in Dallas where he was working in a bakery.
“Many of us have come here because of the situation in our country,” said Montella, who also lives in the United States. “There were times when we had no food to eat or have money to buy anything. Many people fled because of the dictatorship in Venezuela, in search of a better future.
“Not all of these people [deported to El Salvador] They are criminals – not all Venezuelans are bad people. We are from a decent family, working hard and bottom. We did not face any problems with anyone. “
Luis Carlos Jose Marcano Silva
Luis Carlos Jose Marcano Silva, a 26 -year -old barber from the Venezuelan island of Margareta, was arrested in a immigration session in Miami last month. The tattoo also appears to have played a role in his detention and deportation to El Salvador.
One, on the belk of Marcano, the face of Jesus Nazareth appears. Another, on his arm, the icon appears infinite while a third is characterized by the name of his daughter, Adlys. His chest is immersed with a crown image.
“[At the hearing] All they have been saying is that he belongs to the Trine de Aragoa gang. “When his wife contacted the lawyer, it was because of the tattoo,” said Markano’s mother, Adelase Del Valley Silva Ortega.
“I feel frustrated and despair. I imagine that they do not treat it well. I have already seen videos of this prison,” said Silva about the famous Salvaduri prison. “I think about it every moment, I pray to the Virgin of the valley [a Venezuelan patron saint] To protect him. ”
Jersus Reyes Barius
Lawyer for a fifth Venezuelan man who was deported to El Salvador, a former professional soccer player named Jersus Reyes Barius, 36, who also claimed that the tattoo played his role in stamp his fate.
Rice tattoo includes a crown sitting over a football ball with a rosary and the word “Dios” (God). In an advertisement, his lawyer in California, Linette Tobin, said that the Ministry of Internal Security claimed that this tattoo was evidence of gang membership.
“In fact, he chose this tattoo because it looks like the logo of his favorite football team, Real Madrid,” Topin said in its statement on Wednesday.
Topin rejected the idea that her client was a member of the gang and said that he fled Venezuela in early 2024 after his arrest in a government demonstration by the security forces. It was then, “Reyes was transferred to a secret building where he was tortured” with electric shocks and suffocation.
Tobin said United States migration Officials reviewed social media publications for her customer and found one in which he has a manual gesture claiming to be evidence of gang membership. “
“In fact, a common gesture means that I love you in sign language and is usually used as a rock symbol,” Topin said.
Francisco Javier Garcia Casic
Sebastian Garcia, Sixth Venezuelanian brother who was deported to El Salvador, said that his brother, Francisco Javier Garcia Casic, also had a tattoo, including a rose, a compass, which is a reading: “God chose the most difficult battles of the best Warriors.”
A fourth tattoo says: “Vivir El Momento” (currently lives). The fifth in English says, “The Family.”
In September 2021, Garcia posted a video on Instagram about a tattoo of an hour ink on his right arm by an artist in Peru, where he lived. Garcia wrote: “The tattoo is in honor of my grandmother I love and miss a lot,” Garcia wrote.
Anilo Sarabia Gonzalez
In an advertisement composed of the right, the sister of Anilo Sarabia Gonzliz, Solanier Michelle Sarabia Gonzalez, said that her 19 -year -old brother was reserved by immigration agents at the beginning of this year in Dallas and that these agents had asked about the “tattoo that appears on his hand” show money with a bittente.
“He did this tattoo … because he thought he looks great,” said Gonzalez’s sister, adding that she believed that her brother had sent to El Salvador, “under a false claim that he was a member of Train de Aragoa.”
“The tattoos have no meaning or a link to any gang,” said Gonzalez, 25, said.
Franco Jose Karabalo Tiaba
Roseno did not see any indication that his client – who said he requested asylum on the basis of political persecution after participating in the opposition protests – was involved in the Venezuelan gang. He said that the publications of “Carabalo” “Cheapo” and romance indicated that he was not “a member of the evil gang.”
The Venezuelan criminal background examination issued earlier this month indicates that Carappalo has no criminal record there. The Francisco family, Javier Garcia, also published evidence that he has no criminal record in the country.
The White House described the Venezuelan who were deported to El Salvador as “heinous monsters” and terrorists, but they did not release detailed information about their identities, not to mention their alleged crimes.
On Thursday afternoon, CBS News published an internal government existing Among the 238 Venezuelan travel, which included the names of all men in this story.
On Monday, Robert Serena, one of the senior immigration and customs enforcement officials, admitted that “many” who were removed from the United States under the foreign enemy law did not have criminal records in the United States, but he said they nevertheless were members of the Trine de Aragoa.
Sirna said that the fact that these people did not have a criminal record “because they were only in the country for a short period of time.”
