A soccer player who entered the U.S. legally was deported to an El Salvador prison last week in part because of a tattoo inspired by his favorite team, his lawyer claims.
The Department of Homeland Security alleged Jerce Reyes Barrios was affiliated with Tren de Aragua because he ticked the boxes for two of its âgang membership identification criteriaââa tattoo and a selfie with an incriminating hand gesture.
A closer look at those allegations make Barriosâ deportation appear more dubious, however, as the supposedly damning âhand gestureâ means âI love youâ in sign language and is often thrown up rock concert attendees.
Barriosâ tattoo, his lawyer says, is unrelated to gang activity. A photo shows it is a crown sitting on top of a soccer ball with a rosary and the word âDios,â bearing a resemblance to the crest for Real Madridâone of the worldâs most popular teams that has a particularly fervent international fan base across Latin America.
A declaration from a tattoo artist also confirmed the 36-year-old chose the design because of his love for Real Madrid, his attorney, Linette Tobin, claimed in a sworn statement Wednesday that was obtained by the Daily Beast. The tattoo can be seen in Barriosâ pictures on social media.
Tobin claims her client, who has no criminal record in the U.S. or his native Venezuela, was taken to Texas without her being notified and was deported to El Salvador on March 15. She claimed it took her three days to make contact with him.
Barriosâ removal was carried out after Donald Trumpâs administration evoked the centuriesâ old Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations without the need for fully-fledged removal hearings. The removals have since been challenged in federal court.
There was no removal order for Barrios at the time of his deportation, Tobin claims, and he was scheduled to go before a judge in April to make his case for asylum. He crossed into the U.S. legally in September by using a since-disbanded program in the CBP One app that allowed him to enter the country on a set day and time to make an asylum claim.
Tobin said Barrios was taken into custody upon crossing in San Diego, however, because agents viewed his tattoo as being potentially connected to Tren de Araguaâthough she insists her client never faced any formal charges.
Agentsâ suspicions of gang affiliation landed Barrios in a maximum security facility in California, Tobin said. He was transferred out of that facility after authorities received word from Venezuelan police that he had no criminal record, multiple letters confirming employment, additional photos and context surrounding the meaning of his tattoo, an explanation for the hand gesture, and the tattoo artistâs declaration.
Those materials were enough to get Barrios out of a max security facility stateside, but he is now feared to be in a similar facility abroad. Tobin said Barriosâ family has âlost all contact with himâ and are left in the dark on his condition and where exactly he is being held. ICE did not respond to a request for comment by the Daily Beast.
Barrios was a professional soccer player and coach in Venezuela, Tobin said. He fled the country last year, however, after he was allegedly torturedâby âsuffocationâ and âelectric shocksââat the hands of government goons for attending a demonstration against its dictator, NicolĂĄs Maduro.
A man claiming to be a loved one to Barrios wrote on Facebook that he is a father who worked in Mexico for months waiting for his CBP One appointment to be granted.
The Trump administration flew 261 individuals to be housed in the El Salvador prison that was offered up by its Trump-friendly president, Nayib Bukele, who cracked down on cartels in his country while also raising concerns about human rights violations.
