NEW: An ACLU filing sheds light on how "Andry," the gay make-up artist sent to rot in a prison in El Salvador, ended up labeled "Tren de Aragua" by ICE.
Documents filed by ICE shows that the ONLY evidence ICE listed for membership in TdA was a tattoo of a crown with "mom" below.
Here are the tattoos that ICE declared were evidence that Andry, a gay make-up artist who came to a port of entry seeking asylum from Venezuela, was a member of the vicious gang "Tren de Aragua."
I am not making this up. This is it. "Mom" and "Dad" with crowns over them.
The document, a gang questionnaire that was filled out when Andry was first detained by ICE, is maddening.
Andry keeps saying he has no connection with the gangs, yet the ICE officer filling out the form keeps writing in things suggesting he's linked to Tren de Aragua.
After interviewing Andry, who says REPEATEDLY that he is not a member of a gang, somehow an ICE officer concludes that despite all that, his two crown tattoos with "mom" and "dad" written under them are "Consistent with those of a Tren de Aragua member."
The document above was submitted in immigration court when his lawyers challenged the idea that he was part of Tren de Aragua and therefore a safety threat.
That was the ONLY thing they filed -- plus a link to a Newsweek article on claims of Tren de Aragua tattoos.
That's it!
Here is the filing. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Andry entered the country legally at a port of entry to seek asylum.
But even if he HAD entered the country illegally, that would not justify him being labeled an "alien enemy" and sent to one of the worst prisons in the world with no due process.
No, he is still in CECOT. His lawyers have been unable to get in touch with him since he was sent there on March 15.
A few dozen families in Venezuela filed habeas corpus lawsuits in El Salvador seeking to have their family members released on the grounds that they are innocent. I do not know if Andry is among them. There is no specific lawsuit in the US at this moment.
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