CBP Agents Can Have Gang Tattoos — as Long as They Cover Them Up

When Franco Jos Caraballo Tiapa arrived at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in early February for a routine check-in he thought he had little reason to worry Caraballo had arrived in the U S in after fleeing persecution in Venezuela lived with his wife in Dallas and had no criminal record his immigration attorney Martin Rosenow described The Intercept He d checked in with ICE regularly while waiting on his asylum claim But when an agent took special interest in his tattoos they detained him and put him on a bus to the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson Texas and eventually on a plane to CECOT For Caraballo and at least half a dozen other men U S representatives assumptions about their body art played a important role in classifying them as gang members and disappearing them to the notorious prison in El Salvador The Intercept detected that a very different standard applies for the federal agents tasked with keeping settlers out of the country and rounding up those targeted by President Donald Trump s deportation obsession On a masses grooming standards webpage aimed at prospective Customs and Confines Protection agents the agency advises that any tattoos and brandings must be concealed if they are obscene or gang-related In other words agents are allowed to have the very markings for which Caraballo and others were disappeared into a Salvadoran gulag as long as they keep them out of sight It s like saying our gangsters are okay Rosenow revealed But a young man fleeing persecution from his home country a father of two little girls who likes to have ink on his body to commemorate his daughters he is going to be subjected to this kind of horrifying shit One of the tattoos for which Caraballo was targeted manifested a watch face which Rosenow reported depicted the hour of his daughter s birth Neither Rosenow nor Caraballo s wife has been able to speak to him since he was sent to CECOT in March If you have tattoos it s proof-positive you re a gang member yet CBP is authorized to hire people with these tattoos as long as they cover them up Like Caraballo s pocket watch tattoo various of the markings U S authorities have singled out as evidence of gang affiliation strain credulity Jerce Reyes Barrios a -year-old former professional soccer player and coach from Venezuela was held without bond pending his asylum application and later whisked out of the country to indefinite detention in CECOT over a tattoo of a soccer ball with a crown a nod to his sponsorship for Real Madrid It s the height of hypocrisy mentioned Linette Tobin an immigration attorney in San Diego who was representing Reyes in his asylum claim According to this administration if you have tattoos it s proof-positive that you re a gang member yet CBP is authorized to hire people with these tattoos as long as they cover them up CBP officers did not respond to The Intercept s request for comment The grooming standard does not necessarily imply that developing or ex-gang members are welcome in federal agencies which employ rigorous background checks and have a clear incentive to weed out prospective employees with problematic histories or conflicting loyalties CBP which draws several recruits from areas along the U S Mexico demarcation has itself recognized an uncomfortable pattern of corrupt agents who work with family members and associates in criminal operations to assist in the smuggling of people and drugs and other contraband Related CECOT Is What the Bukele Regime Wants You to See But the guidance appears to indicate a gang tattoo would not in itself be disqualifying Gang experts have repeatedly argued that tattoos are an ineffective way to identify members of Tren de Aragua the Venezuelan gang to which U S authorities assumed Caraballo Reyes and other men sent to CECOT belong The trait is more associated with MS- and other Central American gangs Gang tattoos have a sordid history in a few law enforcement agencies majority of notably the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department where deputy gangs have long shown their loyalty or notch their belt after killing someone with body ink Tattoos on federal agents have also raised the possibility of infiltration by white nationalists and other extremists On Martha s Vineyard dispute erupted in June when an ICE agent was photographed with a tattoo on his arm of a Valknut a Nordic and Germanic symbol that has been appropriated by white nationalists At the time a DHS spokesperson objected to charges that the tattoo was a marker of extremism on the part of the agent claiming that it symbolized warrior way of life Other federal agencies have their own standards for tattoos The U S Marshals Function does not allow any face hand neck or scalp tattoos and stipulates that any tattoos that are vulgar sexist racist offensive or could be otherwise inappropriate disruptive or bring embarrassment or disrepute must be concealed while on duty Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has drawn criticism for his tattoos including one in Arabic that spells out infidel and another that reads Deus Vult a Latin slogan that means God Wills It and has been used by right-wing Christian extremists as a call to arms Grooming standards for ICE agents do not appear to be publicly available but while agents often cover their faces visible tattoos are commonplace On a latest day at New York City s Federal Plaza where ICE agents have spent nearly two months making daily arrests of people outside immigration court The Intercept saw multiple heavily tattooed agents including at least one with markings on his hands and neck For those on the other side of the equation the nightmare shows little sign of ending Caraballo Reyes and other immigrants banished to CECOT for their tattoos continue to be held essentially incommunicado Only through the intervention of the Red Cross do their families know they are alive their attorneys announced Franco s wife to this day barely makes ends meet Rosenow noted referring to Caraballo Her big concern now is that they re going to detain and deport her purely because she s his wife and he has those tattoos The post CBP Agents Can Have Gang Tattoos as Long as They Cover Them Up appeared first on The Intercept