Jerce Reyes Barrios, described by his attorneys as a professional soccer player and a youth soccer coach, fled Venezuela for the United States after he was arrested and “tortured” by “election shocks and suffocation” for marching in demonstrations protesting Nicolas Maduro’s regime.
He doesn’t have a criminal record, and a judge is scheduled to hear his asylum claims next month, according to his attorney.
But last week, Barrios was put on a plane with dozens of other Venezuelan men and sent to a prison in El Salvador. His family and lawyer have now “lost all contact with him and have no information regarding his whereabouts or condition,” according to a sworn declaration in court filings.
Barrios is not alone. Statements from attorneys for some of the men who were deported to El Salvador — many of whom have no criminal record whatsoever, had no orders for their removal from the United States, and were scheduled to have their asylum claims heard in upcoming court dates — detail their abrupt arrests.
They are now in a notorious El Salvador prison, accused of being members of the very same gang they fled Venezuela to escape.
The filings were included in a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s administration for his use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
Several declarations include statements from attorneys representing men who were ultimately pulled off the flights; a law enforcement officer allegedly mocked them as having “won the lottery,” attorneys said.
The statements suggest Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted Venezuelan immigrants for their tattoos, regardless of their meaning, as evidence of their alleged affiliation with Tren de Aragua.
According to ICE, a “gang member” includes anyone with at least two “gang membership identification criteria,” such as tattoos.
District Judge James Boasberg has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from any deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act and has ordered government attorneys to respond to several questions — about the timing of the recent flights, when the planes left U.S. airspace, and who was on them — to determine whether officials intentionally defied his court order.
The Trump administration has appealed the injunction, and Department of Justice attorneys have argued that “there is no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate.”
Those answers would “disclose sensitive information bearing on national security and foreign relations,” they argued.
But administration officials concede “many” of the nearly 300 Venezuelans on those flights don’t have a criminal record. In a court filing, ICE official Robert Cerna claimed that a lack of a criminal record “actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”
Barrios, 36, registered with the CBP One app in Mexico for an appointment with an immigration officer last year, but was taken into custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in San Diego, where he was accused of being a member of the Tren de Aragua gang, largely based on his tattoos — which include a crown on a soccer ball, a tribute to his favorite club Real Madrid, according to his attorney’s statement.
Department of Homeland Security agents also reviewed his social media and singled out an image where he is pictured making the “I love you” or “rock ‘n’ roll” hand sign. DHS called it a gang sign, the filing says.
He applied for asylum in December 2024 and is scheduled to appear in court next month. There was no order for his removal.
But he was deported on March 15. His attorneys didn’t know where he was for three days, until March 18, when they confirmed with an ICE officer that he was imprisoned in El Salvador.
His attorney and family have “lost all contact with him and have no information regarding his whereabouts or condition,” attorneys wrote.
A gay Venezuelan man identified by his initials in court documents as J.A.V, entered the United States on May 3, 2023, and was released by immigration authorities the next day.
He is seeking asylum in the United States after he “suffered verbal and physical violence and harassment on account of his sexual orientation, including by gangs in Venezuela,” according to an attorney statement.
J.A.V. “has never been arrested, charged, or convicted of any criminal offense in the United States,” and “his only record of any legal infraction was a ticket issued for non-payment of a subway fare, for which he paid a fine,” a filing states.
He has “several artistic tattoos, which he has had for many years,” including when he was initially processed when he entered the country.
After a routine check-in on February 28, ICE agents questioned him about his tattoos, claimed they were “gang-related” and accused him of being involved with Tren de Aragua, according to his attorney.
He was among a group of men who were ultimately pulled off the flights to El Salvador.
J.A.V., who is HIV positive, “is terrified that he will suffer severe illness and death if he does not have access to daily medications and consistent medical care,” the filing says.
“For all the reasons he fled to the United States and applied for asylum, J.A.V. fears being sent to El Salvador,” according to his attorney. “Given the horrendous and notorious conditions of El Salvador’s prisons, his health, safety, and his life would be at serious risk if detained there, or if removed from the United States before his asylum case is fully heard in immigration court. He is at serious risk of death if sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador.”
Solanyer Michell Sarabia Gonzalez and her 19-year-old brother Anyelo Jose Sarabi sought asylum in the United States after fleeing Venezuela in 2023, she said.
Her brother has a case hearing in May.
But on January 31, during their routine ICE check-in, her brother wasn’t allowed to leave. ICE agents questioned him about a tattoo on his hand — which features “a rose with money as petals,” Gonzalez wrote. He also has the words “fuerza y valiente” and a Bible verse (“todo lo puedo en cristo que me fortalece”) on his arm.
“My brother is not part, or was never part, of any gang,” and he has no criminal record, she wrote. “These tattoos have no meaning or connection to any gang.”
They last spoke on March 14. She fears he is among the dozens of men sent to El Salvador.
“If he were back in Venezuela, I would hear from him as well,” she wrote. “I am extremely concerned about the health and safety of my little brother.”
Another man, identified in court filings as E.V., fled Venezuela in 2022 after he was “imprisoned and tortured by the Venezuelan government for participating in an anti-government protest,” according to his attorney.
ICE alleges his tattoos of “anime, flowers and animals” indicate he is a member of Tren de Aragua, attorneys wrote. He also has a tattoo of a crown, “a tribute to his grandmother whose date of death appears at the base of the crown,” according to filings.
Attorneys for E.V., who has a son who is a U.S. citizen, have not been able to reach him.
They are “gravely concerned” he is now imprisoned in El Salvador.
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