A young barber. A gay makeup artist. A professional soccer player.
They are all Venezuelan migrants whose families or attorneys have claimed were unfairly deported from the United States to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador after the Trump administration accused them of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang.
Weeks after the migrants were deported, court documents show immigration officials relied on a scorecard-like system using evidence such as everyday tattoos to accuse those and other Venezuelan men and justify their deportations.
The government’s reliance on tattoos and social media posts as sufficient reason for deportation to a third country is what families and legal representatives have been fighting in the courts as relatives worry over the men’s fate.
A document the American Civil Liberties Union filed in federal court Friday shows a copy of an “ALIEN ENEMY VALIDATION GUIDE,” requiring immigration officials to act against Venezuelans over age 14 who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
The guide has instructions about how to determine whether a person is removable under the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which President Donald Trump invoked last month to quickly deport over 200 Venezuelan nationals.
It includes a type of scorecard of up to 81 points across 20 items and six categories.
According to the guide, a tally of 8 points or higher — which includes a person’s tattoos and social media posts displaying symbols that officials say have been linked to Tren de Aragua — can be grounds for deportation after consultation with a Department of Homeland Security supervisor or legal adviser.
The document and 20 others from Tren de Aragua experts, as well as from attorneys and the deported men’s relatives, are part of a federal lawsuit in which the ACLU argues that Trump’s unprecedented invocation of the Alien Enemies Act is unlawful.
“The unreliability of the factors on the checklist reinforces why it is essential that these individuals are given due process to contest their inclusion in this unlawful process,” Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney at the ACLU working on the Alien Enemies Act lawsuit, told NBC News in a statement.
Asked whether DHS considered the scorecard method to be an effective one, an agency spokesperson said in an email: “DHS has thorough intelligence assessments to determine if an individual is a member of one of these vicious gangs. These terrorists are a threat to national security and the safety of Americans. The premise that these individuals are not gang members is based on faulty assumptions.”
A Trump administration official also told NBC News the White House has confidence in the ongoing efforts by immigration agents, saying their intelligence assessments go well beyond single tattoos.
‘The only sin’
But after last month’s deportations, families and attorneys of seven Venezuelan immigrants sent to El Salvador have told NBC News, Telemundo and MSNBC that their relatives were unjustly targeted based on having ordinary tattoos that do not necessarily signal gang affiliation.
“The only sin my brother has committed is to have tattoos,” Eudomar Chacin said Tuesday about his brother Jhon Chacin, who was deported with the first group of 200 men.
In Venezuela, Jhon was a tattoo artist and displayed samples of his artwork on his body, his brother said, insisting he is not part of Tren de Aragua. “He never drank; he never smoked. He likes tattoos. That’s it,” he said. “It’s incredible how this is being handled.”
Eudomar said his brother entered the United States through the CBP One app in October and was held in detention until he was deported.
The sister of Fritzgeralth De Jesús, who is also in the Salvadoran megaprison, said, “This is very unjust — many people in Venezuela decide to get tattoos because they see it as art.”
She said that when she and De Jesús entered the United States legally through the now-obsolete CBP One app, authorities constantly asked about his tattoos and whether he was a member of Tren de Aragua.
“Days go by and nothing happens. I’m very scared that everything will remain this way,” said De Jesús’ sister, whom NBC News is not identifying because she fears deportation. “I need my brother to be released. I’m so desperate and there’s so much uncertainty that it’s difficult to go on with our daily lives.”
Though De Jesús is in El Salvador, he still has a final hearing for his asylum case scheduled for April 10. His attorney, Joseph Giardina, said he plans to show up and demand that the government provide evidence that he is a member of Tren de Aragua. “Obviously it won’t bring a resolution,” Giardina said. “But what can I do but pound the table?”
In a declaration filed as part of the ACLU case by Paulina Reyes, the attorney for Andry José Hernández Romero, the gay makeup artist from Venezuela who was sent to El Salvador last month, Reyes argues that her client’s tattoos and social media posts “are the only basis” used to connect him to Tren de Aragua.
Reyes included documents showing a scorecard immigration officials used to determine whether Hernández Romero belonged to a “security threat group” or a gang. Hernández Romero, who has “Mom” and “Dad” tattoos with crowns on his wrists, was labeled as a suspected member of Tren de Aragua based on his inkings even though he explicitly told officials he “is not a member of any gang,” the document shows. Another DHS document showed Hernández Romero had no known criminal record when he was deported.
According to Reyes’ declaration, immigration officials also pointed to photos on social media showing her client posing with a beauty pageant crown to argue he was displaying gang symbols.
Law enforcement and immigration officials across the country have linked several tattoos and symbols to Tren de Aragua. They include crowns, stars on shoulders, firearms, grenades, trains, dice, predatory felines, gas masks, clocks, the Illuminati sign and the jersey number 23 — which basketball players including Michael Jordan and LeBron James made famous — in addition to tattoos of roses and Nike’s Jumpman logo.
Other tattooed phrases law enforcement says are associated with the gang include “Hijos de Dios” (Sons of God), or its abbreviation, “HJ,” and “Real Hasta la Muerte” (Real Until Death).
Gang experts have said the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, unlike other Latin American gangs, such as the Salvadoran group MS-13, is not known for using tattoos to identify its members.
Declarations filed in the case by Linette Tobin, an attorney representing professional soccer player Jerce Reyes Barrios as well as by the mother of barber Luis Carlos Jose Marcano Silva both state they believe the men were falsely labeled as Tren de Aragua.
In her declaration, Tobin said that Reyes Barrios has “never been arrested or charged with a crime” and that he was accused of being a member of Tren de Aragua based on his tattoos and a photo on social media. Reyes Barrios’ tattoos show a crown from the Real Madrid soccer team logo, as well as a rosary with the word “Dios” (God). The social media photo shows Reyes Barrios doing a “Rock&Roll”-style hand gesture similar to that of “I love you” in American Sign Language.
Marcano Silva’s mother, who in her declaration is identified only as A.V.S.O., said her son “was falsely and unfoundedly accused of being a member of TdA” during a routine ICE check-in in February and detained. “My son is not and has never been affiliated with any gang,” she said.
