Posted on 03/21/2025 4:31:44 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
A crown over a soccer ball. An eyeball that “looked cool.” Flowers.
Those are some of the everyday tattoos that defense lawyers say helped lead to the sudden weekend deportation of roughly 200 Venezuelan men who are accused of being members of the ruthless gang Tren de Aragua.
Tattoos are signals of membership in some Latin American gangs, with the facial tattoos of the El Salvadoran group MS-13 perhaps the best known. Experts, though, say tattoos are not central to Tren de Aragua. They also note that tattoos, hugely popular all over the world, are often nothing more than body art.
As for a crown tattoo, some law enforcement officials say it can represent membership in Tren de Aragua or the U.S. gang the Latin Kings. But just a glance online will turn up websites offering hundreds of crown varieties, with one noting they “add a touch of elegance to any look.” The situation is similar for stars and clocks, common tattoos that are regularly flagged as gang symbols by law enforcement.
Often they mean nothing at all, said Karla Ostolaza, managing director at the New York City public defender nonprofit The Bronx Defenders. Ostolaza has defended numerous Latin American immigrants targeted for anything from tattoos to Michael Jordan T-shirts.
The tattoos set off no alarm bells in a suburban U.S. gym, but “worn by someone of that nationality it becomes a sign of criminality, danger and gang affiliation,” she said.
U.S. officials have said agents did not rely on “tattoos alone” to identify gang members before the weekend flights. But lawyers and family members say tattoos were repeatedly used to argue that the men belonged to Tren de Aragua.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
“hugely popular all over the world, are often nothing more than body art”
…the lack of any conscience is what always amazes me. Killers, rapists, the worst of the worst just have “body art”.
Illegal is illegal regardless of a tattoo. Bye.
It’s interesting that the RATs think gang tattoos are perfectly fine. But one Senator on the Hearing Committee for Hegseth wanted him disqualified because he has a Christian cross tattoo.
Everyday tattoos, perhaps, but was he here legally?
Ay-pee.
I’d be amazed if any of the deportees were sent away because they had a tat. Tom Homan is smarter than that. Being a Latino with a tat is not a crime. Being a tattooed illegal alien with a criminal record and gang associations is enough to be removed from the public. Unless you’re a judge with an agenda.
Were these fine gentlemen in the country illegally or not? That is the legal issue in question. If they were here illegally, they are subject to arrest and deportation, regardless of a lawyer trying to obfuscate this fact.
Convenient that these losers have “I’m in a Venezuelan Gang” written on their necks and faces for everyone to see.
ICE should tattoo “I went to the USA and all I got what this lousy tattoo” on their backs before sending back.
Most of us have been saying that NOTHING GOOD comes from tattoos and these men are learning that lesson.
We need a tattoo board to make these determinations. Execution branch, not judicial.
Everyday tattoos...................on the face, forehead and neck. yeah ok
If they were here illegally, they should be been deported.
Not sent to hell.
I was under the impression that all 240 were gang members.
If some had no gang affiliation and had no other crime than entering illegally, then they should have been deported.
I am NEVER saying they shouldn’t be kicked out...but that prison is for the worst of the worst.
Right? That’s what I was thinking.
Sayonara!
“””I was under the impression that all 240 were gang members.””””
Who told you they weren’t?
Do any Tren De Aragua members lack any of these tattoos?
Nobody seems to be claiming this.
Seems as if it’s at least a good way to figure out who NOT to grab by the shirt collar during raids of this kind.
They are from Venezuela and have Gang Banger Tattoos; therefore ... (not innocent body art)
such BS... In my neighborhood if you have ink with an “LK”, “13”, “La Familia”, “ALKN”, a 5 pointed crown, 3 dots and 2 lines means “suerño” or a Black Hand with an M on it....
you are “representing” and will get KILLED if you are on the wrong block. No ink means you’re a civilian... but this clown is the typical spineless, quisling coward of a lawyer that represents the communists/anti-American/utopian/collectivist/anti-Christian parasites in our country....
They are the infection, they are the cancer.
Exactly. Trump didn’t say that only violent criminals would be deported. He just said they’d be the first to go. If any other illegals were found along the way, they were fair game, too.
Don’t want to end up in an Ecuadoran prison? Self-deportation probably is the most pleasant method of getting where you want to go.
No bias in this article..........
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