Roses, Real Madrid, crowns: What to know about tattoos used to deport Venezuelan migrants

U.S. officials in court filings say that tattoos worn by Venezuelan migrants are ample reason for their removal to a notorious Salvadoran prison.

Family members and advocates say immigration authorities are using tattoos of Spanish soccer teams, family members, crowns and the detainees' professions to tie them to the Tren de Aragua prison gang.

As the Trump administration battles a federal judge over details of deportation flights to El Salvador and migrants' alleged membership in Tren de Aragua − which President Donald Trump has labeled a terrorist organization − here’s what to know about the gang, tattoos and evidence of ties.

What is Tren de Aragua?

The organization started as a prison gang in Aragua, a state in northern Venezuela. Tren de Aragua, often abbreviated by U.S. officials as TdA, has expanded through the Western Hemisphere, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. This has come as Venezuelans have fled their country by the millions amid violence, instability and corruption under President Nicolas Maduro.

Tren de Aragua focuses on extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. In the U.S., officials have said Tren de Aragua members have been arrested over retail thefts, muggings by moped in New York City, and a jewelry heist in Denver.

In 2024, the Biden administration sanctioned the gang as a transnational criminal organization. A USA TODAY investigation found the group is still small in the U.S. − with activities far less pervasive than established transnational criminal groups, such as MS-13.

Apprehensions of gang members in the U.S. and at the border have been relatively low. In November, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told USA TODAY that agents had arrested fewer than 30 people with TdA connections.

ICE referred another 100 to an FBI "watch list" for review. At the U.S.-Mexico border, Border Patrol apprehended 27 people in fiscal year 2024 and 41 people the prior year for Tren de Aragua affiliation, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Of the 50 people identified who have been deported to a prison in El Salvador, 44 have no criminal record in either the U.S. or Venezuela, according to Kate Wheatcroft, an immigrant rights activist with the New York-based nonprofit Together & Free.

“We're deeply skeptical of this gang narrative,” she said.

What do tattoos represent?

The FBI has long studied tattoos for clues about gang membership. This can range from white supremacist logos, to numbers, letters or logos for specific Black and Latino gangs.

The FBI has a “Tag and Graffiti” team at its lab in Quantico, Virginia, where crypto-analysts help federal, state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide. The team has a library of thousands of symbols and pictures of tattoos and graffiti that can help identify gang-related crimes, according to the agency.

“Organized crime entities involved in such activities frequently use characteristic tattoos and symbols,” the agency said in a report. “Tattoos, symbols, and other images can reveal significant details about a crime, victim, or perpetrator, but they are easy to overlook if not immediately identifiable.”

The Justice Department describes a gang as an association of three or more members who have adopted a group identity used to create an atmosphere of fear or intimidation through a common name, slogan or identifying sign such as a tattoo.

Tren de Aragua: Tattoos optional

Tren de Aragua − unlike many predominantly Latino gangs − doesn’t require tattoos signifying membership, although some members have them, Ronna Risquez, a Venezuelan journalist who authored a book about the gang, told the Associated Press.

As USA TODAY reported in November, Texas officials and Border Patrol agents have compiled a list of tattoos to try to identify Tren de Aragua members. These have included locomotive trains or a five-point crown, the latter of which has been used for the Latin Kings gang. The Texas Department of Public Safety also lists roses, predatory felines and stars on shoulder for ranking.

Some members have tattoos of Michael Jordan or his iconic 23 jersey number. This supposedly stands for 23 de Enero, a Caracas neighborhood known for crime.

ICE has a long history of indiscriminate arrests of anyone vaguely associated with gangs, said David Brotherton, a professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who studies  transnational gangs. The recent removals of Venezuelans are part of Trump’s mass deportation agenda, he said.

“It’s particularly aimed at Latino communities,” Brotherton told USA TODAY. “Panic around the gang is a way to pretext making these raids and increasing the levels of detention.”

So what are detainees’ tattoos?

Lawyers and relatives of Venezuelans who were deported said in court papers the administration wrongly accused them of ties to Tren de Aragua.

For example, one of the five Venezuelans identified only by their initials in a lawsuit seeking to block their deportations under the Alien Enemies Act has several “artistic” tattoos, according to his lawyer, Melissa Smyth. 

But Smyth said the Department of Homeland Security was aware of the tattoos when they processed J.A.V. after he entered the country on May 3, 2023, and later sought asylum.

ICE agents arrested J.A.V. after an asylum interview Feb. 28 and “suggested that they believed some of his tattoos were gang-related,” Smyth said. J.A.V., who is gay and HIV positive, denied being a gang member, has never been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime and, and said he has suffered physical abuse from gangs in Venezuela. 

Incriminating body art?

Here are some examples of tattoos officials are linking to Tren de Aragua, according to attorneys for several Venezuelan asylum seekers who were deported to a prison in El Salvador.

• Rose, clock, crown: J.A.B.V., a 24-year-old man whose attorney said he fled political persecution from the Maduro regime for supporting opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, has tattoos of a rose, a clock and a crown with his son’s name on it. He had an asylum hearing scheduled April 7 before his deportation. “Subject has gang-related tattoos,” J.A.B.V.’s U.S. deportation document said. “The tattoos are well-known tattoos that Tren de Aragua gang members tend to have. Subject denied being part of Tren de Aragua or any other gang.”
• Anime, flowers, animals: E.V., who fled Venezuela in 2022 after participating in anti-government protests, has tattoos of anime, flowers and animals, but denies being a gang member, his lawyer Austin Thierry said. E.V. "also has a tattoo of a crown, which may be why ICE falsely accused him of gang membership,” Theirry said. “However, this crown is not related to Tren de Aragua but rather, a tribute to his grandmother whose date of death appears at the base of the crown.” 
• Real Madrid logo:Jerce Reyes Barrios, 36, a professional soccer player who fled after torture with electric shocks and suffocation after participating in demonstrations against Maduro's government, has a tattoo on his arm of a crown atop a soccer ball, resembling the logo of the Spanish team Real Madrid, with a rosary and the word “Dios,” his lawyer Linette Tobin said. “DHS alleges that this tattoo is proof of gang membership,” Tobin said. “In reality, he chose this tattoo because it is similar to the logo for his favorite soccer team Real Madrid.” Reyes has no criminal record.
• Rose, "valor and strength": Anyelo Jose Sarabia, 19, was deported Saturday “under the false pretense that he was a member of Tren de Aragua,” said his sister Solanyer Michell Sarabia Gonzalez, 25, of Arlington, Texas. He has a tattoo on his left hand of a large rose with dollars for petals, which he got in August 2024. “The tattoo has no meaning or connection to any gang,” Gonzalez said. Two other tattoos are “fuerza y valiente” for valor and strength on his bicep, and one that reads, "todo lo puedo en cristo que me fortalice” or “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens" on his forearm, she said.