The case of Venezuelan immigrant Jerce Reyes Barrios has sparked national and international attention due to the perception that the only evidence identifying him as a member of the Tren de Aragua gang was a tattoo and a hand gesture.
Jerce was one of 261 Venezuelan and Salvadoran migrants deported last week to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, most of them under the recently invoked Alien Enemies Act (AEA), whose enforcement is the subject of an intense legal battle.
A former soccer player and coach in his native Venezuela, he decided to leave the country after being imprisoned for participating in a public protest against Nicolás Maduro. He traveled to Mexico and entered the United States through the CBP mobile app to request asylum. He had been in federal custody since last September. His attorney, Linette Tobin, maintains that it’s a tattoo of his favorite team, Real Madrid, and that the hand gesture, which was captured by authorities in a social media post, is the symbol for love in sign language.
“He has never been arrested or charged with any crime. He has a stable employment history as a soccer player and coach of children and youth soccer,” Tobin stated in a legal motion.
But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maintains that the federal government is certain of Jerce’s membership in the Tren de Aragua gang, designated a foreign terrorist organization by President Trump. A spokeswoman assured that his tattoos match those indicating his affiliation with the TDA.
“I have been assured by the highest levels of ICE that each of these (are) members of the TDA… What we did, what the Trump administration did, was exactly in accordance with federal law… We are not making this up. We are enforcing the law to the letter,” said border czar Tom Homan.
The case of the 261 Venezuelans and Salvadorans is at the center of a legal battle. Washington Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to essentially return them to the United States, which the Department of Justice failed to comply with.
When the case was brought before a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Judge Patricia Millet criticized the lack of due process.
“There are no rules… These people were not notified. They were not told where they were going. These people were delivered on those planes that Saturday, and they had no opportunity to file a habeas corpus petition or any kind of action to challenge their deportation under the AEA,” Judge Millet lamented.
“The Nazis received better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than what happened here,” she concluded.
We don’t know if Mr. Reyes Barrios is an innocent migrant or a member of the TDA.
That’s what “due process” is for. It is one of the fundamental principles of the United States legal system and is protected by the Constitution, specifically the Fifth Amendment (for the federal government) and the Fourteenth Amendment (for state governments).
Due process guarantees that “the government may not take away your life, liberty, or property without following fair and legal procedures.” And it applies regardless of legal status.
It is in everyone’s best interest that this cornerstone of the democratic system be upheld and respected.
