Certain Tattoos Mean Gang Member? Claims Emerge of “Flawed Deportee Selection” in the US

US Attorney General: “We Are in a Modern War with Gangs”… Advocating for Expulsion Using ‘Alien Enemies Act’,
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Venezuelan woman crying over the news of her son being transferred to El Salvador
[Maracaibo Reuters=Yonhap News. Redistribution and DB forbidden],
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, ‘(Mexico City Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Jae-rim = Claims have been made that the Trump administration in the U.S. has considered people with specific tattoo designs as gang members and selected them as subjects for deportation.’,
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, ‘According to El Salvador’s daily La Prensa Gráfica and Venezuela’s daily El Nacional on the 23rd (local time), the Trump administration deported over 200 Venezuelan nationals from the U.S. to El Salvador, stating, “They are associated with the international drug trafficking and violent group Tren de Aragua (TdA).”‘,
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, ‘However, the attorneys of the deported Venezuelan nationals argued that the U.S. authorities did not present legitimate evidence that these individuals were actual gang members or involved with gangs.’,
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, “La Prensa Gráfica reported that in some cases, the basis for the U.S. authorities’ judgment that the deportees were connected to Tren de Aragua was their possession of tattoos with designs such as crowns, flowers, and eyes.”,
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, ‘La Prensa Gráfica also disclosed parts of documents obtained during a trial to nullify the deportation orders, which is presided over by Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.’,
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, “The documents include the case of Reyes Barrios, a former professional soccer player in Venezuela, for whom the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used tattoos of a crown, soccer ball, and ‘Dios’ (the Spanish word for God) on his arm as ‘evidence of gang membership’.”,
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, ‘However, the defense attorney argued that the design was actually modeled after the logo of the prestigious Spanish football club Real Madrid.’,
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, “In another Venezuelan deportee’s case, a rose petal tattoo on their left hand played a decisive role in their being perceived as a gang member, but a statement was released saying that the tattoo was acquired in Arlington, Texas, U.S.A in 2024 simply ‘because he thought it looked cool.'”,
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, ‘As the U.S. Department of Justice examines the legality of the Trump administration’s recent deportation decisions and enforcement, there are also emerging human rights controversies regarding those relocated to El Salvador.’,
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, “The deported Venezuelan nationals from the U.S. are detained in the Central American country’s largest incarceration facility, the terrorist detention center (CECOT), where, according to their defense lawyers, ‘CECOT detainees cannot contact family and attorneys, often have to attend their trials online instead of in-person, and sometimes several hundred are grouped as defendants in a single case,’ as reported by international human rights organizations.”,
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, ‘Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaking on the controversy over applying the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act (AEA) as the legal basis for this deportation, said in a Fox News interview, “We are in a modern war with gangs” and emphasized, “It is more appropriate now than ever to apply the Alien Enemies Act,” according to Reuters.’,
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, ‘walden@yna.co.kr’,
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