Laura Barron-Lopez:
So we have new sworn declarations that were made overnight to the court. And in one of those, a lawyer representing one of the Venezuelan nationals who was deported to El Salvador provided information about this Venezuelan national.
And so this Venezuelan migrant is Jerce Reyes Barrios. He’s a 26-year-old professional soccer player and coach. He protested the authoritarian rule of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. And then he fled Venezuela in early 2024 after being tortured with electric shock.
And he legally applied for asylum and entered the U.S. and then was detained, and as his case, his asylum case was playing out. But his lawyers said that the government accused him of being a member of Tren de Aragua based on two things, first, an arm tattoo — quote — “of a crown sitting atop a soccer ball with a rosary and the word dios.”
In reality, he chose this tattoo because it is similar to the logo for his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid. The second thing that DHS points to is a photo of Mr. Reyes Barrios on social media of him making a hand gesture that the DHS alleges is proof of gang membership. And his lawyer said that — quote — “In fact, the gesture is a common one that means I love you in sign language and is commonly used as a rock ‘n’ roll symbol.”
His lawyer also added that his legal counsel as well as his family have lost all contact with him and have no information about his condition.
