Donald Trump‘s mass deportations to El Salvador by Nayib Bukele seem to have claimed a victim who should not have been. That’s what the lawyer for Jerce Reyes Barrios claims, whose passion for Real Madrid has cost him his deportation. The authorities determined that the tattoo he had engraved on his skin, in honor of the Spanish soccer team, was actually an identity mark of the criminal gang known as Tren de Aragua.
The 36-year-old Venezuelan has been deported by the US administration to El Salvador’s Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (Cecot), a maximum-security prison. He would not be the only one, as he was also sent in the group of 238 Venezuelans – including Jerce Reyes – who boarded one of the three chartered planes bound for the Central American country, which has become famous for its harsh methods of maintaining security within its borders.
His love for Real Madrid costs him deportation
The footballer was arrested last September when officers claimed his tattoo was “proof of gang membership”, as his lawyer Linette Tobin describes in an affidavit this week. A tattoo with a crown, a soccer ball, a rosary and the word “God” that tries to resemble the design of Real Madrid’s crest, a team he has always supported.
In statements to ABC, he added a second reason for his arrest: “The DHS reviewed his social media messages and found a photo of Reyes Barrios making a hand gesture that it claims is also proof of gang membership. In reality, it is a common gesture that means ‘I love you’ and is commonly used in rock’n roll.” A defense that he has now also taken to the public arena in an attempt to free his client.
No criminal record and asylum seeker
Reyes Barrios would not have committed any crime and the only thing that appears is an arrest for having participated in protests in Venezuela against the Maduro regime between February and March last year. An arrest in which he had not only been put behind bars, but also allegedly tortured by the Venezuelan government. It was at that moment, after receiving his long-awaited freedom, that he decided to go into exile in the United States.
From the moment of his entry, the player himself would always have entered legally through the CBP One application, a method implemented by Joe Biden’s government to try to regulate the entry of immigrants, and would have his appointment with the immigration judge to approve his full residence the following month. This is now in jeopardy after he was deported last Saturday to El Salvador and after which his family and lawyer still do not know the whereabouts of Jerce Reyes Barrios.
