The Illegally Deported Migrants Aren't All Gang Members Like Trump Claims

The Trump administration "promises" that they "did everything they possibly could" to confirm that the Venezuelan immigrants illegally deported to El Salvador were actually members of the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).

I mean, why would ICE Acting Field Director Robert L. Cerna, EVER lie in his sworn statement?

“Officers and agents well versed in gang activity in general and TdA in particular reviewed the information gathered on each alien, identifying TdA members based upon information such as previous criminal convictions… surveillance… evidence that the alien had committed crimes in coordination with known members of TdA… and admission of TdA membership by the alien. ICE did not simply rely on social media posts, photographs of the alien displaying gang-related hand gestures, or tattoos alone.”

If you've been paying attention, anything MAGA says they are doing is always the opposite, and ICE has done exactly that in the case of at least two deportees without criminal records or apparent gang ties. Both men have tattoos, but they also have written statements from tattoo artists attesting that the designs have nothing to do with any gang. Both also arrived in America after following all the legal procedures for seeking asylum, registering with the Customs and Border Protection app, CPB One, in Mexico, and presenting themselves at the assigned point of entry at the U.S. border at the designated date and time. AKA Entering the country legally.

None of this prevented the two innocent men from being detained and wrongfully deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. They and other deportees are being held indefinitely in a prison system where beatings and torture occur constantly.

36-year-old Jerce Reyes Barrios is a professional soccer player who is said by his lawyer to have left his native Venezuela a year ago after he was tortured with electric shocks and suffocation for participating in a demonstration against the authoritarian rule of Nicolas Maduro. Now it looks like he'll be forced to endure the same torture in El Salvador.

In a sworn statement, his attorney, Linette Tobin, said Barrios was placed in the Otay Mesa Detention Facility in San Diego County, California, upon arrival at the U.S. Border in September. Barrios was accused of being a member of Tren de Aragua after ICE noticed he had a tattoo on his arm of a crown atop of a soccer ball, along with a rosary and the word ”Dios.” He explained that the tattoo was inspired not by a gang, but his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid. That was confirmed by a written statement from his tattoo artist. He also supplied the American authorities with a certification from Venezuela that he has no criminal record.

A Department Homeland Security (DHS) check of Baurios’ social media posts then produced a photo of him flashing what DHS took to be a gang hand sign. He explained that it was sign language for “I love you.’”

Barrios remained in detention pending a hearing before an immigration judge scheduled for April 17.

Instead, Barrios was suddenly transferred to Texas, flown to El Salvador, and abandoned to face the same brutality, he hoped to escape.

“Counsel and family have lost all contact with him and have no information regarding his whereabouts or condition,” his lawyer’s declaration says.

Barrios was joined by Fritzgeralth De Jesus, who had left Venezuela after being extorted and threatened by “colectivos,” the paramilitary thugs affiliated with the Maduro regime. De Jesus has a considerable number of tattoos. He also has a signed statement by his tattoo artist of 8 years. In the statement, the artist explains that "all the designs made to my friend and clients were made without any intention of promoting any violence or alluding to any gang or criminal group. They were only made for creative tastes and for the sake of advancing both myself as a tattoo artist and him getting good tattoos at a low price. I thank him for his support as a customer and as a friend over the years."

De Jesus also had a certified official document which states "it is hereby confirmed that the referred citizen DOES NOT HAVE A CRIMINAL RECORD IN THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA.”

“This certificate is issued for the purpose of being presented to the authorities of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”

De Jesus was detained pending a final hearing on his application for asylum, which was set for April 10. But then he too was suddenly transferred to Texas, flown to El Salvador, and abandoned.

Court papers filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in the case describe what those 238 deportees now face. In the case of De Jesus and Barrios, simply for having a few innocent tattoos.

“The range of violence occurring inside prisons in El Salvador at the hands of gangs and prison guards is acknowledged in the 2022 and 2023 U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Reports on El Salvador; detainees are subject to beatings, waterboarding, and use implements of torture on detainees’ fingers to try to force confessions of gang affiliation,” the papers say.

Following the arrival of De Jesus and Barrios and the others, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted a three-minute video on X that mocked the federal judge’s order to turn the planes around.

“Oopsie … Too late,” Bukele wrote.

His taunt was promptly reposted by Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, complete with a laughing emoji.

The callous, cruel, savage hatred these people display is horrendous.