U.S. Tied Migrants to Gang Based Largely on Clothes or Tattoos, Papers Show

The big problem with judging people by their ‘gang tattoos’

Tattoos are an unreliable marker of gang membership, writes professor of Law Beth C. Caldwell

Why tattoos are such an unreliable marker of gang membership

Tattoos of crowns and roses are popular among everyone – not just members of Tren de Aragua, as law enforcement has claimed. Marc Atkins/Getty ImagesThe United States deported 238 Venezuelan men on three flights to El Salvador on March 15, 2025, claiming that they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang that originated in Venezuela. Immigration officials have said that tattoos were not the sole criteria used when deciding whom to deport; however…

Lawyers accuse the immigration police of sending migrants accused of gang membership to El Salvador without trial solely on the basis of drawings engraved on the skin or on clothing.

While dozens of Venezuelans were transferred from the United States to a high-security prison in El Salvador, one of them was mistakenly taken for a member of the Tren de Aragua gang because of his crown-shaped tattoos, alerts his family.

First came the denunciations. Now, the evidence. Since Donald Trump’s government began deporting Venezuelans to El Salvador, who are accused of being members of the criminal gang Tren de Aragua, family members and defenders of migrants’ rights raised their voices to say that these men are not and have never been gang members. They were misidentified, purely prejudiced by their nationality, clothing or tattoos. A lawsuit filed by the American Civ…

Tattoos and sportswear, those are some of the indications enough for the U.S. government, led by...