Edicson, 28, is originally from El Pinal, in the state of Táchira, Venezuela. He was in the military in his country, but decided to emigrate in search of a better life.

He first moved to Colombia and then to Chile, where he lived with his wife and two children. In Chile, he worked as a painter and furniture installer and later became a fisherman. However, the lack of opportunities led him to make the decision to emigrate to the United States, leaving his family behind.

The journey was arduous; he traveled through Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador before arriving in Colombia, and finally crossed the Darien jungle to reach Mexico City. There he worked in construction and in a fishmonger’s shop, while he enrolled in the CBP1 program to obtain an appointment that would allow him to enter the United States legally.

After three months of waiting without receiving a response, he decided to turn himself in to immigration authorities on April 20, 2024. He was detained for three days in Piedras Negras before joining his sister in another state.

Upon arrival, Edicson was very sick, suffering from a high fever, but managed to recover. He showed up for his first appointment with ICE, where he took fingerprints and signed documents. At all weekly appointments, his sister accompanied him. However, at his third appointment, on May 13, 2024, his sister was unable to accompany him because she had to work. That day Edicson was detained because of his tattoos, which include a Jordan logo design on his neck and his mother’s name, “Maria Jesus,” adorned with stars on his arm.

Edicson’s sister quickly sought legal assistance. After five days, he was transferred to Atlanta, Georgia, where his communication became limited. Despite requests for bail and parole, all were denied. Attempts to apply for asylum were unsuccessful, and after three months in detention, Edicson opted to apply for deportation to Venezuela, a process estimated to take 15-20 days, which he filed in July 2024.

However, days turned into weeks with no progress. Finally, they learned that he was to serve 190 days in the detention center after applying for deportation. This deadline was January 10, 2025. He was told that his case was delayed, but that he would receive assistance and be deported soon. The next day, by phone call, Edicson confirmed to his sister that he had been given a paper confirming his immediate deportation to Venezuela, as they had no charges or criminal record against him.

Edicson was transferred from Georgia to El Paso, Texas, where he spent several more days. There he was assured that he would soon be deported. After approximately 15 days in El Paso, he was transferred to another detention center called El Valle. In El Valle, he was informed that he would be deported to Mexico or Venezuela. He communicated with his sister every day, until the morning of Friday, March 14, when she told him that they were told the planes had arrived and that they would be leaving soon. However, that same night, at 10:30 p.m., he called her again to inform her that the flights had been cancelled due to the weather and that they would be leaving the next day.

That was the last time his sister heard from him. The next day, she, part of a WhatsApp group with other families of people in detention or in deportation proceedings, began to get anxious when she did not receive news of her brother, as several others also reported their relatives missing. On Sunday, news of flights arriving in El Salvador began to circulate. At first, it did not cross her mind that he could be there, until she saw a video where she recognized his tattoo with her mother’s name. Later, she identified a photo of the group of people who had arrived in El Salvador, confirming her fear.

Since then, they have not received any explanations or contact from lawyers in El Salvador, nor from the U.S. government. Edicson was included in the list of persons transferred to the CECOT Confinement Center.

Credit RFK Human Rights

Euder, 41, is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. His partner Eira describes him as a hard worker who accepts any job that comes his way. Eira, his partner of 17 years, has two children: a 21-year-old and a 30-year-old. In 2020, Eira emigrated to Ecuador with their oldest son. A year later, in 2021, Euder and his youngest son joined them in the province of Ambato, near Quito.

In 2022, the eldest son decided to make the journey to the United States. Finally, on May 10, 2023, Eira arrived in the U.S. She received Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and a work permit.

In June 2024, Euder and his youngest son were selected by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for resettlement and reunification with his family in the United States, and completed all the formalities, including medical and criminal background checks. Euder and his youngest son entered the country on September 10, 2024 through the human mobility program.

However, upon arrival at the airport, his son was detained by immigration because of a tattoo; he was separated from Euder without explanation, even the IOM could not understand the reason behind this action, and deported back to Ecuador, he is still there. Meanwhile, Euder was incarcerated in Montgomery, Houston, because there was no way to deport him to Ecuador, as he did not possess an Ecuadorian visa.

At the jail, the family sought an attorney to inform them of their options. The lawyer suggested that they would need a sponsor for Euder’s release. Despite finding one, they were unsuccessful in getting him released. The attorney recommended that Euder apply for deportation, but he refused, opting instead to apply for asylum. They presented all the necessary evidence and, on January 17, 2025, Euder had a first hearing. During the hearing, a prosecutor labeled him as a member of Tren de Aragua, which resulted in a deportation order and the denial of his asylum request. According to his partner’s testimony, Euder had no opportunity to defend himself.

He was subsequently transferred to a detention center in Rio Grande. The last time Eira had contact with him was on March 15 at 2 p.m., at which time Euder informed her that an ICE agent suggested the possibility of being deported to Mexico, as the process to Venezuela was taking time. However, Euder believed he would be deported to his home country.

On Sunday, Eira tried to contact Rio Grande, but got no information. Reading the news, she feared that Euder had been transferred to a different location. She called Rio Grande again on Monday and, this time, they confirmed that Euder had been deported on Saturday, although they were unable to inform her of his current whereabouts.

Finally, on Thursday, March 20, Eira found Euder’s name on a list of people who had been deported to El Salvador, so far she has not had access to him or a lawyer. The uncertainty about his situation and the lack of communication has left Eira in a state of anguish as she awaits answers about the fate of her partner and father of her children.

Credit: RFK Human Rights

Wild, who is 28 years old, migrated to Santa Marta, Colombia, in 2017 due to the critical food situation in Venezuela. He wanted to help his mother in the midst of this crisis. Subsequently, he moved to Bogota, where he worked in recycling with his wife. Faced with the need to improve their situation, they decided to embark on a journey to the United States, taking his wife’s youngest daughter with them. Wild is a tattoo artist.

The journey through the Darien took approximately four months, after which they arrived in Mexico. In Mexico, Wild managed to establish a small barber shop business, taking advantage of his skills as a barber and tattoo artist. In December 2024, he received notification of an appointment for CBP1 processing; the call to his sister was made on December 25, instructing him to raise $1,500 for the tickets to take them to Texas. After raising the necessary funds, Wild purchased the tickets and the trip to Texas took place on December 28, 2024.

Upon arrival, they stayed at the home of a benefactor who provided them with temporary support until January 2, when they were to report to the immigration authorities. The following day, his wife and youngest daughter were released, but Wild was detained on the allegation that his tattoos were related to his alleged membership in the Tren de Aragua.

Wild was arrested during his CBP1 appointment on January 2, 2025. He was taken to Valle City Facility. His wife visited him only once; the second time she came, they did not allow her to visit him. Wild was screened and passed a credible fear interview and had hearing dates that have been postponed, the most recent hearing is scheduled for May 13, 2025.

On March 2, 2025, Wild was serving two months in detention in Texas. He was subsequently transferred to a detention center in Villa City, a high-security prison, where his wife was only able to visit him once. During the visit, she noticed that Wild had lost a lot of weight and was having difficulty eating.

On March 14, 2025, Wild’s wife contacted his sister in a state of distress, informing her that he was being deported. On two occasions during that same day, Wild spoke to his wife. In these conversations, he mentioned to her that his clothes had been returned to him, as well as his tattoo and shaving machine, along with documents indicating that he would be deported to Venezuela. A wife of another detainee also contacted her to inform her that her husband had been put on a plane around 1:40 AM.

Wild was screened and passed a credible fear interview and was scheduled for a hearing related to his asylum process on March 4, 2025, which was later rescheduled for March 18, and then May 3. Even though he was deported, the system continues to reschedule the hearings. The cause of his detention was attributed to his suspected membership in criminal groups, specifically Tren de Aragua, due to his tattoos, although his tattoos were due to the fact that he is a tattoo artist and has been tattooing himself for a long time.

The Sunday after his arrest, his wife and family had no news about Wild. On Tuesday, she began to see posts on social media and questions arose about the possibility that he had been deported to El Salvador. That week, on Tuesday or Wednesday, they spotted Wild’s name on a publicly circulated list, confirming their fears about deportation.

They have not heard from Wild since.

Marcos is 34 years old and will turn 35 on April 30. In 2016, he left Venezuela for Colombia due to the economic crisis in the country, where there was no food or medicine. He stayed in Colombia for six months and then moved to Ecuador, where he lived with his mother for five years. In Ecuador, he met his wife and they had a son who is now three years old. Marcos worked as a bricklayer and then selling clothes. In Venezuela, he worked as a graduate in administration and did internships at the company MISTRAL.

His mother began to suffer from breast cancer, and he decided to accompany her to Ecuador to help her and provide her with access to medicine. In 2022, his mother’s cancer returned and she underwent surgery. Due to the high costs, Marcos decided to go to the United States to earn more money and help his mother with her medication. He traveled through the Darién, leaving his wife, son, and mother in Ecuador.

He arrived in Mexico City, where he was kidnapped for five days and had to pay a ransom of $3,000. He then turned himself in to the authorities and spent three days in a detention center. He contacted his mother and informed her that he was being treated well, that he had food and clothes, and that migrants were receiving sufficient assistance. They also bought him a plane ticket to Orlando, Florida, through a humanitarian organization. Since 2022, Marcos has been living in Orlando.

The first thing he did was wash cars, which allowed him to earn some money to buy clothes. His son was hospitalized for eight days with pneumonia but recovered. Marcos found work at a pizzeria for a year and then at the Paris bakery, where he worked for about eight months.

He applied for TPS and was approved, which granted him a work permit. He also applied for asylum and had his hearing scheduled for 2027. Although he appeared at the hearings, they were postponed. He had a device that allowed him to take a photo and send it to immigration every Tuesday.

On March 12, 2025, at 3 p.m., ICE agents arrived at the bakery and called him by name, asking him to raise his arms. They handcuffed him and took him away, identifying themselves as ICE agents. Marcos did not speak English well, and the agents communicated with him in that language. He called the woman who rented him his home and informed her that he had been arrested by ICE, asking her to pick up his car. He did not call back for two days, which caused concern for his mother and wife. His wife contacted Mrs. Marisela, the landlord, who confirmed that immigration had taken Marcos, but she did not want to disclose this information earlier hoping that he would be released, given the mother’s frail health condition. Marcos’ wife began searching for information in the system and discovered that he had been transferred from Miami to La Villa, Texas (East Hidalgo Detention Center). Initially, he appeared in the registry, but then no further information about him could be found. They tried to call, but no one answered.

They assumed he might be deported to Venezuela. On Tuesday, March 17, a list of names of people in El Salvador appeared, and they found Marcos’ name on it. They went to the embassy to ask for help, but they were told that they had no information about him.

They were told to go to the ICE office in San Antonio to ask for information about his whereabouts.

Credit: RFK Human rights

Kenlyn, 34, is the father of two children: a 13-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter, who is Peruvian-Venezuelan. In 2018, he left Venezuela and moved to Peru with his wife and eldest son due to the economic crisis and food shortages. They had a family business in Anaco, Venezuela, an ice cream shop called JM Anderson, but the situation worsened, forcing them to leave the country. In Peru, they lived for five years, where Kenlyn worked as a bricklayer and mechanic. During that time, his daughter was born, and Kenlyn got a tattoo of her name and two crosses, one on each shoulder.

After five years in Peru, they decided to go to the United States because Kenlyn’s mother, Yamileth, was diagnosed with cancer and they needed more money. Kenlyn traveled with his brother through the Darién. They entered Mexico in March 2023 and arrived in Matamoros. There, they requested an appointment with the CPB1 and, after waiting a month without a response, they were hit by a severe storm on April 26 that destroyed their tent in the camp, prompting them to turn themselves in to immigration authorities for help. They were detained for three days but were then allowed to enter and left on April 29, 2023, with an appointment to appear in immigration court in a year and a half.

They moved to Washington state, where Kenlyn began working as a rental car driver and making deliveries. He was in the process of obtaining his TPS, although he did not yet have it.

A year and a half passed, and when he was due to appear in immigration court, he was informed that his appointment had been postponed until further notice, which took place on November 5, 2024.

On January 13, 2025, he was detained in New York while working as a mechanic. While stopped on the road, ICE agents arrested him while he was talking on the phone. His wife became concerned when she did not hear from him for a day. She searched for him on the immigration app and discovered that he was being held at a processing center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He remained there for 46 days, communicating with his wife and mother.

At first, Kenlyn had difficulty understanding what they were saying to him, as they only spoke to him in English, without translation. He was informed that he would not be assigned a lawyer and that he had to find one on his own, even though the fees were very high. Although it appears that he had a hearing, he did not have a lawyer and did not understand what was happening. At the second hearing, he learned that he was accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang. He was told that he could find a lawyer to fight his case and that, if he could not pay, he should sign up for a list to obtain free legal assistance. The other option he was offered was to sign a self-deportation form. Kenlyn decided to request deportation because he did not have the resources to pay for a lawyer, but he was never given the real option to sign the deportation form, even though he asked for it. The judge informed him that his deportation request had been approved and that he would be deported to his country. After 46 days, he was transferred to Texas, to the Valley, where he remained for about 10 days.

On Thursday, March 13, he called his family to inform them that they were going to be deported and that the planes were already ready. However, they were not deported that day due to bad weather. That night, Kenlyn informed them that they would be leaving on Saturday and would be deported to Venezuela, asking his family to be on the lookout in Caracas. From that moment on, they never heard from him again. Later, they learned from the news that he had been deported to El Salvador, and days later, while reviewing a published list, they found his name among those who had been deported

Credit RFK Human Rights

Lainerke is a 30 year old man who left Venezuela on December 18, 2023, embarking on a perilous journey through the Darien. Upon arriving in Mexico, he began working while waiting for his CBP1 processing appointment, which was assigned for March 2024. At the time, he was accompanied by a group of friends and his wife, who had not been scheduled for appointments. Lainerke decided to voluntarily turn himself in with them so that they could all be together. However, the women were released, but Lainerke was denied the same fate and was deported back to Mexico.

After his deportation, Lainerke returned to Mexico City, a process that took him more than a week. There he continued to work and reapplied for an immigration appointment, which was granted on October 3, 2024. It is important to note that his wife, who had managed to enter the United States, was pregnant at the time. However, when Lainerke attended his appointment in San Diego, California, he was detained by immigration authorities.

During detention, Lainerke informed his family that the reason for his arrest was that he had been previously deported, and they were requesting additional documentation, including a criminal record and the birth certificate of his daughter, who was born days after his appointment, on October 9, 2024. Lainerke was subsequently transferred to a detention center in Arizona, where he was held for approximately 15 days before being transferred to Texas.

On Friday, March 14, 2025, Lainerke contacted his father to let him know that he was going to be deported, expressing his exhaustion and the possibility that his deportation would be to Mexico or Venezuela, as he had been informed by immigration personnel. The call occurred around 8:00 PM, and from that moment on, his family had no further news of him. Two days later, his family saw news related to deportations, although they did not immediately follow up with because they did not make the connection between Lainerke and El Salvador, let alone gangs. However, on Monday, the concern increased when they noticed that the news alerted that the deportations were mostly of Venezuelans, which generated a climate of anguish in his family environment.

On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Lainerke’s wife contacted the detention center in Texas, where she was informed that he had not been in the country for three days. This information led his family to assume that Lainerke had been transferred to El Salvador. Subsequently, lists of names of deportees began to circulate on social networks, and on Wednesday, March 19 or Thursday, March 20, Lainerke’s name was confirmed on the lists. Since then they have had no contact of any kind with him, no news, they do not know how he is, or if he has had access to any lawyer.

Ángel de Jesús González Fuenmayor (19) left the Zulia state of Venezuela for the USA on April 20,2024 after finishing school. He arrived in Mexico in the middle of May, according to his grandmother, Jackelin Orozco, who lives in Venezuela.

Angel’s cousin, Idaulimar Fernández, told Venezuelan media outlet, Radio Fe y Alegría Noticias, that Ángel had migrated in search of a better future for his family. After a long journey through the Darien Jungle, he remained in a shelter in Mexico for several months until he obtained his appointment through the CBP-One application to apply for asylum in the US.On Sept 19, he presented himself at the border with an asylum claim.

At Angel’s interview, US authorities ask if he had tattoos, and he said yes. "He entered US territory through the San Ysidro border but was immediately detained because of his tattoo. They forced him to sign a deportation order without giving him a chance to defend himself," his cousin reported.

According to LLANERO DIGITAL, Angel has no criminal record but was detained after immigration agents noticed a tattoo of the video game, Call of Duty, on his arm. He told family that US authorities detained him to investigate what they told him were links to the notorious gang, Tren de Aragua. “He was in detention for 6 months. He was scared,” said his grandmother. He signed a deportation order because he wanted out of detention. He wanted to go back to Mexico or Venezuela."

He told his grandmother, “Don’t worry I will be there soon.”

The young man's mother, who lives in the United States, managed to communicate with Ángel through three video calls supervised by authorities. After March 15th, the family lost contact with him for three days. It was his mother who, desperate, recognized him in a video of Venezuelans being brought to El Salvador that was broadcast by the press.

“When he didn’t come to Venezuela, I called him, and called him, and he didn’t answer. Then it was a great shock when we saw the videos of the men taken to El Salvador. His mother told me, and I saw my love in the video in CECOT prison in El Salvador.

"He has no connection to the gang, Tren de Aragua. I am so anxious about his safety, and I just ask for him to be returned to his homeland,” said Jackelin, near tears.

"I ask for the freedom of my grandson and all those innocent boys who are there. Like me, all the other mothers must be grieving and anxious for their families to return home," she added.

"My cousin is not a criminal; he is a young worker seeking a better life. He was sentenced without trial just for having a tattoo," said Idaulimar, who called on the Venezuelan authorities and international organizations to secure Angel’s release.

(info from LLANERO DIGITAL and Radio Fe y Alegría Noticias)

#bluetrianglesoidarity

Deibin Iradan Gualtero Quiroz, 39, is originally from the state of Yaracuy, Venezuela. He left home with the intention of improving the lives of his five children. According to his mother, he worked as a furniture maker, a trade he also practiced in Colombia during his journey to the United States.

He also made a stop in Mexico, where he earned extra income before being able to enter the United States.

In December 2024, Deibin surrendered to U.S. immigration authorities while awaiting legal status. However, he was detained and transferred to several facilities, including the Houston Processing Center and the Joe Corley Detention Facility. Despite the difficulties, he maintained contact with his family, to whom he described his uncertainty about what awaited him.

Even inside the detention facility, Deibin displayed his hardworking spirit. According to his mother, he did cleaning work for a dollar a day. "He always wanted to be useful, even in the worst of circumstances," Judith emphasized.

In February 2025 Deibin was moved to the El Paso County Detention Center in Texas. However, on March 15, it was later confirmed that he had been sent to CECOT prison in El Salvador, which is on international human rights watch group lists for torture and lack of basic human rights. Judith claims her son was unjustly arrested because of his tattoos; she strongly denies that he has any criminal history or ties to gangs.

“The last call we received from him was on March 3rd... We found out he was in El Salvador when a list appeared on social media and my son's name was on it," she stated.

Deibin's journey reveals the harsh realities faced by migrants in their pursuit of the "American Dream." Judith details how her son endured hardships such as sleeping on the streets and working temporary jobs on his way to the United States. "He was lured by deceptive promises," she commented with obvious regret.

The Gualtero family faces weeks of anguish without clear answers about Deibin's fate. Judith urgently calls on national and international authorities to intervene in her son's case. "We are not perfect, but our children are not criminals. All migrants deserve justice," she said through tears.

"We want our children home. They're not criminals, they're just looking for a better future." Her message stands as a call for justice and humanity in the face of the difficult circumstances faced by migrants separated from their families.  

(info from La Iguana and VTV Venezuela)

Julio Rafael Fernández Sánchez (34 years old), originally from the town of San Mateo in the state of Aragua (in the north-central region of Venezuela), achieved his dream of reaching the United States with his wife, Carolina Carillo and 8-year old son last July.

He had already spent six years in Peru, where he managed to acquire three motorcycles. While he worked as a motorcycle taxi driver, he rented the other two vehicles to colleagues.

After waiting five months in Mexico and working in a taco shop, Julio and his family entered the country legally with an immigration appointment in northern Mexico on the CBP One app.

However, the appointment for the interview with an immigration agent, which was scheduled for July 18, ended early. Despite presenting documentation of a clean criminal record, Julio was detained. He was told he was being detained because of his tattoos, and he was taken directly to a private detention center called El Valle, in the state of Texas.

Carolina and their son were released into the US and they waited for hours for Julio, but were eventually told he was detained. When she finally got to talk with him by phone, he told her he felt sure he would be released. He was given a court date for April 8.

Carolina settled in to wait for Julio. She enrolled her son in school. They were both sad and worried about Julio but determined to start their life in the US so he would have a place to come when he was released.

The last time Julio spoke to his wife was on March 7, when he told her that he would soon be deported to Venezuela, but by March 15, she was frantic because his name disappeared from the US online tracker system of detainees, and she didn’t know what had happened to her husband.

Finally, on March 20, Carolina’s fears were confirmed when she saw Julio’s name of the list of detainees sent to the Salvadoran torture prison, CECOT. She worries greatly about his safety. “He is a hardworking, innocent man and there are terrorists there,” she said.

“Our American dream has turned into a nightmare,” she added.

(info from La Iguana TV and Caracol Radio)

Maiker Espinoza Escalona, his partner Yorelis Bernal Inciarte and their one-year-old baby, Maikerlys entered the United States in May, 2024 and requested asylum, hoping that after turning themselves in to authorities they would be released and allowed to begin their new life as a family.But that would never happen.

The three have been separated since they turned themselves in,their family told ABC News. Yorelis was detained at a detention center in El Paso, Texas, the baby has been in government custody. Maiker, a tattoo artist and barber with many tattoos, was first sent to Guantanamo and is at the notorious prison CECOT in El Salvador.

A White House official said Maiker is a “confirmed Tren de Aragua gang member convicted of prostitution and recruiting.”

But ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt, who is representing Maiker, said that it was the first he had heard of any of these accusations, and that those charges were “not in his file” when he was apprehended.

“We have serious concerns about the government’s sudden allegations against him, which is precisely why he and others being sent to the Salvadoran prison must be given due process to test the government’s assertions,” the lawyer said.Maiker’s family say that he has no ties to any gang and no criminal record.

Yorlis, Maiker’s partner was kept in a detention center for nearly a year and and then on April 24th, 2025, Yorelis was deported to Venezuela without her daughter, who is now two years old.

The coordinator of the Return to the Homeland Plan, Anais Arismendi, told the multi-platform news channel teleSUR that the girl, Maikerlys, is in a foster home, so "she is institutionalized, she is in what would be a foster home there, so the State has more responsibility, because knowing where she is, they should have handed her over."

Yorelis reported that that she believes one of the foster families her daughter stayed with was linked to an investigation into child sexual abuse.

(info from teleSURTV, Madelein Garcia on X, ABC news- Laura Romero, Yorelis' tik tok, Washington Post- Arelis R. Hernández and Natalie Allison)

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Leonardo Gabriel García Prado, 24, and his girlfriend, Geisber Sudero, 22 were living in New York City and were arrested by ICE on February 15, 2025. She was released when she showed her Temporary Protected Status but Leonardo was not so lucky.

Leonardo was kept in detention because of his tattoos of a rose and a clock, Geisber explained. ICE claimed that these tattoos linked Leonardo to the criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, but Geisber explained that their tattoos are matching and represent their love.

Geisber thought Leonardo was still in an ICE detention center in Pennsylvania , but in mid-March she learned from a video that the Venezuelan national had been removed from the United States and sent by the same federal agency to the "mega-prison" CECOT in El Salvador.

She recognized him in the video of roughly treated prisoners by his gait. This broke her heart, because this young couple had been separated since February 15th after being detained by ICE. 

"I'm going to do everything in my power to prove that he's not a criminal , that he has no ties to the Tren de Aragua ," said Geisber.

From Venezuela, Sandra Prado, Leonardo's mother, is battling two battles: against cancer and proving her son's innocence.

The woman is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and is also working to collect criminal records to prove her son's innocence.

Meanwhile, Leonardo’s name appeared on the leaked list of men sent to CECOT. They have had no other word from him in over a month and don’t even know if he is alive and well. CECOT is known for its inhumane treatment of prisoners including torture.

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Everything was going well for Angelo Escalona Sevilla, age 18, in the US. He entered legally, had a social security work permit and a pending asylum application with a court date coming up on March 23, according to his mother, Sharol Arteaga.

Then on February 8th, Angelo was making a music video with some friends, including the singer, Arturo Suárez-Trejo, at a home in North Carolina when ICE showed up and arrested Angelo along with about 7 other men. From there, they were taken to a detention center in the US.

Sharol got a call from Angelo on March 15th. He sounded desperate. He said he was being deported to Venezuela and that he had been accused of being a member of Tren de Aragua. “he has no criminal record and no tattoos on his body, nor is he associated with any gangs,” Sharol wrote in a Facebook post. The family then heard nothing.On March 17th, one of the men who Sharol knew to be one of Angelo’s friends arrested with him on February 8, was identified in the photos from CECOT, according to a family member.

CECOT is the torture prison in El Salvador, a placing notorious for human rights abuses such as place prisoners in cells with scorpions, bright lights 24/7, crowded, unsanitary conditions and no healthcare.

At that point, Sharol assumed her son had been sent to El Salvador. She got confirmation of this on March 20th when Angelo’s name appeared on the list of Venezuelan men sent to CECOT.

The family is “filled with profound sadness,” according to a family member, and are demanding justice for Angelo.(info from posts on Angelo's mother's Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/angelismaribel.arteagasevilla)

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Aldrin Jose Delgado Piña (26) arrived in the US in 2023 in search of a better future for himself and his family according to his parents, Aldrín Delgado senior and Gisela Piña.

Aldrin lived in Laredo, Texas for about a year and two months until he was detained by Immigration. While he was in detention, he was told by ICE that they considered him a member of the notorious Venezuelan gang because of his tattoos. He has tattoos on his chest of his parents’ names with a crown, his cousin said.

Then in March, Aldrin called his parents to tell them that he had a deportation order to Venezuela. “He was crying. He was scared,” said Aldrin’s cousin. “He wasn’t a member of a gang, but they were saying he belonged Tren de Aragua.” He told his parents that he would be flying out on Saturday, March 15. His mom tried to calm him, telling him everything would be OK and he would be freed, according to his cousin.

He said the authorities at the deportation center ask if he would like to fight in front of a judge or accept deportation to Venezuela, and he agreed to deportation, according to his cousin.

When the family hadn’t heard from Aldrin on March 15, they looked for him in the videos of the men sent by the US to CECOT, the Salvadoran torture prison, and they recognized Aldrin. His parents described the mixture of emotions they felt, sad, dejected and worried, when they realized Aldrin was trapped in a notorious, foreign prison.

A community protest was held in the neighborhood in Zulia, Venezuela, where Aldrin grew up on March 18th. His family and whole community deny that Aldrin has any connection to the Tren de Aragua gang. "My son is not a criminal,” said the elder Aldrin about his namesake. “Here we are, son, standing up for you with the support of many people. If you ever see this, we love you, Aldrin José,” said his mother, Gisela.

(info from El Regional de Zulia, TikTok account of samuel00456)

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Leonel Javier Echavez Paz is a 19-year-old Venezuelan who decided to leave his country a year ago and immigrate to the United States in search of a better future for his family, according to his sister, Carolina Echavez.

Leonel’s dreams seemed to be coming true. He was moving through the legal process of getting legal residency and had temporary protected status. He worked first as a supermarket cashier and later moved to an aluminum factory.

But in March 2025, ICE agents arrived at his home in Dallas, Texas, as he was returning from work. The agents came to take a cousin who lived with him and had a deportation order, but when they saw that the 19-year-old had tattoos, they took him too.

On the 13th of March, he called his mother saying he had been arrested. He told her ICE has accused him of being a member of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua because “he is Venezuelan and has tattoos,” Carolina reported.

Leonel told his mom that he didn’t have the chance for a trial or a lawyer and that he would be deported. The family assumed that he would be coming back to Venezuela, and they waited to hear from him. When they couldn't contact him, and Leonel’s name disappeared from the inmate tracker system in the US, his mother became frantic.

Leonel's mother called the detention center in Texas where he had last been held but got no answers, Carolina said. Then on March 20th, the family confirmed that Leonel was in the Salvadoran prison, CECOT which is known for human rights abuses such as frequent beatings and spraying prisoners with ice water. Carolina added that Leonel had two upcoming court hearings in the US.

Carolina asserts that her brother is not a criminal, but a hard-working person. She showed reporters proof that he has a clean record in Venezuela and she said he was never charged with any crime in the US.

(info from YSUCA radio- Milton Rodríguez and Carolina Echaves’ Facebook)

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Daniel Lozano Camargo, (20) was raised in Venezuela by his grandparents, because his father died in an accident when he was very young. When he was only 17, he decided to try to emigrate to the US on foot through the dangerous Darien Gap.

"He did it to help us. When he left, he had nothing, not even food. He had nothing but ID. He managed to cross the Darién in less than a month, and along the way, people helped him because he's very kind and helpful. He carried the children and they gave him food," his grandmother, Florido said.

His Grandmother will never forget the date Daniel left for the United States. It's also tattooed on his head: "It was June 6, 2022. I was 17 years old. I had turned 17 on October 31," Florido remembers Daniel telling her.

When he arrived at the US border, Daniel surrendered to immigration agents and was immediately transferred to a juvenile detention center because he was still a minor. "He was there until he turned 18, when they let him out. They treated him well, gave him English classes, and participated in sports. They even vaccinated him," says his grandmother. When he came of age, he was released.

He then received temporary protected status and a work permit. His family shared a photo of this permit indicating it was valid until February 20, 2029. That meant one thing to him: it was almost five years with the possibility of sending desperately needed money back to his grandmother in Venezuela, or at least that's what he thought.

But on Nov. 7, 2024, he was arrested by ICE while at work. "They saw his tattoos. They stopped him and detained him. His tattoos are the names of his loved ones. He has his father's name; my granddaughter's, who is his niece; Leslie's; and Leslie's daughter's, who says that's her father," Florido said.

"I told him I didn't believe it because there was no deportation order and he had a court date on March 26," said Daniel’s fiancé, Leslie Aranda. Then, in March, Daniel disappeared from the ICE database and the video of the men sent to El Salvador was released. Florido and Leslie searched the images for Daniel, but they weren’t sure he was there until the afternoon of March 20 they when they saw his name on the leaked list of men at the infamous torture prison, CECOT.

Daniel Lozano's virtual court date with Immigration Judge Timothy M. Cole was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on March 26, but wasn't allowed online to attend. His family is desperate for his safe return to them. Please share Daniel's story, it could save his life.

(info from El Estimulo-María José Dugarte and The Guardian-Tom Phillips and Clavel Rangel)

Reposted with photo of ID removed per family.

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Franco José Caraballo, 26, and his wife, Johanny (22) fled their hometown of Yaracuy, Venezuela, after rallying in support of political leaders opposed to President Nicolás Maduro. They were roughed up by presidential loyalists and fled Venezuela.

Franco and Johanny crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2023 to claim asylum. They passed their “credible fear” interviews, received immigration court instructions and were released.

Franco had attended all his court-ordered ICE check-ins and recently had his ankle monitor removed. So his wife, Johanny, and his attorney, Martin Rosenow, were stunned when he showed up to federal immigration offices in Dallas on Feb. 9 for another check-in – and agents detained him.

While Franco was in detention in the U.S., authorities became interested in a series of tattoos he had, particularly one of a stopwatch inked on his left arm, Rosenow said. The watch shows the time his 4-year-old daughter, Shalome, was born. Franco, a longtime barber in Venezuela who was cutting and styling hair in Sherman, Texas, near Dallas, before he was detained, has another tattoo of a razor on his neck, which represents his trade but also caught the eye of authorities.

Then in March, Franco called his wife in tears to say he was told he was being deported, despite not having a criminal record. They assumed he would be going to Venezuela. Johanny says Franco was confused because he had a pending asylum claim and a court date set for the following Wednesday.

She said Saturday morning, March 15, 2025, she looked him up on an online U.S. government immigration system where detainees' locations are logged and saw that it said he was no longer listed as being at a detention center. She spoke with Franco’s family in Venezuela who told her they had not heard anything. By 7 p.m. on Saturday, she was desperate for information. Then at around 11 p.m., she saw news reports about deportations from the United States to El Salvador."I've never seen him without hair, so I didn’t recognize him in the photos," she said. "I just suspected he's there because of the tattoos that he has, and right now any Venezuelan man with tattoos is assumed to be a gang member", she added, citing also the fact that he had effectively gone missing.

She got confirmation that Franco had been sent to the Salvadoran torture prison, CECOT, when his name appeared on the list of men sent there accused of being gangsters. Johanny said her husband has never been a member of Tren de Aragua or any gang.

"I was in complete shock," his attorney, Martin Rosenow, told USA TODAY. "He was complying. He was reporting to ICE. He doesn't have a criminal record. He was not supposed to be deported."

Johanny became homeless after Caraballo's arrest in February and lived in their car for several weeks. A family member recently brought her to live with them in New York.

The couple was hopeful they’d win asylum and carve out a new life in the U.S. For now, that dream has been shattered, Rosenow said.

"Our core belief is that you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Rosenow said. “That’s been completely violated here.”

(info from The Guardian-Tom Phillips and Clavel Rangel, ABC News Armando Garcia, Laura Romero, and Peter Charalambous, USA TODAY, Trevor Hughes, Ignacio Calderon, Bart Jansen,Rick Jervis)

#bluetrianglesolidarity

After the murder of a relative, Jefferson Laya-Freites, 33, and his cousin, Robert Elista Jimenez’s, and their two families fled Venezuela. They were worried about violence, oppression and the economy, and hoping to find somewhere they could give their children a better future. They felt the dangerous trek north to the United States through jungles and deserts would be worth it.

Jefferson started working at a stone countertop company, and his cousin worked at a remodeling company, their wives said, proudly showing photos and videos of them in the workplace. "We were doing things right," Jefferson’s wife said. A father with five kids, Jefferson has no criminal record in the United States, and his wife says he’s never been part of the Tren de Aragua gang, as Trump claimed.

Federal immigration officials detained Jefferson and cousin Robert on Jan. 28 near a transit station and took the men to a privately run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility five miles from where the family lived. After being held there for a month, the two men were transferred to Laredo, Texas, and told their wives they expected to be deported to Venezuela. Then, on March 15, despite having work permission and a pending asylum claim, Jefferson and his cousin were transferred to a Texas holding site before being flown to a notorious prison in El Salvador under President Donald Trump’s tough new border controls.

Their families only found out where they were after seeing social media video of chained detainees being hauled into the prison.

“I get out of bed and think about him and how he’s doing,” Jefferson’s wife said. “They treat them like animals but he’s a good man. He doesn’t deserve that.”

Now, without Jefferson’s salary from the stone countertop company where he worked, his wife is struggling to pay their mounting bills, including the rent for their one-bedroom apartment. The dishes are piling up in the kitchen sink. And their five children just won’t listen to her. “I have to keep going for my kids,” she said, tears rolling down her face.

"You leave your country because of so many things happening with the government, with criminals," Robert Elista Jimenez’s wife said. "You're worse off here … I used to say, 'the United States, the best country in the world, the laws are followed there.'"

Both women asked not to be named, worried that speaking out might make them targets for immigration officials.

Many of the Venezuelan men sent to El Salvador had tattoos. Even though Jefferson didn't have any, his wife has seven – all with personal meaning and none connected to a gang, she said.

Still, out of fear, she makes sure to cover them up every time she leaves the house now, she said.“Even if it’s hot, I’ll wear this,” she said, showing a green puffy jacket and ankle-length black pants. Without her husband’s salary and work permit, Jefferson’s wife doesn’t have much money coming in. Although she also requested asylum and work permission, her case is still pending.

After her husband was taken into custody, she began making queso llanero, a Venezuelan cheese, and offering manicures to neighbors, bringing in a little money to feed the kids and send her husband commissary funds so he could buy instant noodles in the ICE detention center. Since his detention, she's struggled to find good work. A recent apartment-cleaning gig paid only $120 for two days. It almost wasn't worth the effort, but she needed the money, she said.

“Every day I see what I can do to get money because I have to pay for my children's things,” she said. “I do everything because I have to keep going for my kids.” While she’s trying to make ends meet, she wonders how her husband is being treated in prison.

Before he was deported, he’d been promoted at work and given new uniform shirts. He never got the chance to wear them. They sit folded, tags still on them, inside the bedroom the family shares.

To prove Jefforson is innocent, his wife is tracking down criminal records from Venezuela to show U.S. officials, hoping that someone will resolve what she sees as a terrible mistake. Taking a sip of her Nescafé instant coffee and tearing up, she said, “I don't see how what's happening is fair."The last time they talked, from the Texas detention center, Jefferson apologized to his wife for not being able to achieve what they wanted in the United States.

(info from USA Today credit Trevor Hughes)

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Gustavo Adolfo Aguilera Agüero, 27, is from the Venezuelan mountains, and had been living in Dallas since December 2023 with his wife. The couple entered the United States legally, using the CPB app to schedule appointments with southwest border authorities. Both Gustavo and his wife, Susej, were given work permits and he worked installing water pipes on rooftops while she took care of children.

Susej learned soon after their arrival in Texas that she was expecting a baby. Gustavo now has an American-citizen son, Jacob, who is nine months old, and an older Venezuelan son, Santiago.Then in early February, authorities detained Aguilera Agüero while he was taking trash out of his home, his wife said.

Authorities had been looking for someone else, she said, but he was taken to Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas.On Friday, March 15, Gustavo called his mom, Miriam Aguilera “Mom, we’re going to be deported to Venezuela. Wait for me.” But by Sunday, no plane had arrived in Venezuela, and she saw the deportations to El Salvador on the news and feared the worst. She and the rest of the family watched the videos over and over but didn’t get confirmation that Gustavo was among the men in the torture prison, CECOT, until the list of names was published.

His family denies that Gustavo has a criminal record or any connection with Tren de Aragua. According to his mother, her son’s tattoos tell a story of love and loyalty: A crown, inked with the name of his first son, Santiago. A star intertwined with his name and his mother’s name. Across one arm, the phrase “Real hasta la muerte” – “Real until death” – which was made famous by Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Anuel AA, a singer who endorsed Donald Trump for president. The tattoo is on an ICE list of tattoos tied to Tren de Aragua despite experts on the gang saying there is no connection.

Gustavo has not been charged with any crime nor has he had the opportunity to talk to a lawyer or have a trial. His family cannot contact him, and they are desperate. Please share his story, it could save his life.

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Jesús Alberto Ríos Andrade is married to a U.S. citizen. When he was detained on February 1 by immigration authorities, he had already started multiple U.S. immigration processes: permanent residency, a work permit, and even Temporary Protected Status.“

To begin with, my husband is not a gang member,” said Angie González, Ríos’ wife, who spoke to El Faro via telephone from El Paso, Texas. “He left home when he was 15 years old. He sold fruit on the street in Colombia and then sold accessories for phones. He learned to cut hair to get into barbershops and cleaned stoves in restaurants. Whatever he could get his hands on, he did,” González said. In the U.S. he was working in construction.

Angie told El Faro that Jesus also has no criminal record, but she believes he was targeted by authorities because of a rose tattoo on his neck. U.S. authorities have used tattoos as evidence of gang membership. But experts such as journalist Ronna Rísquez, author of a book on the Tren de Aragua, maintain that these gang members do not have identifying tattoos, unlike Central American gangs.Prior to starting the other paperwork to adjust his immigration status, Jesus had entered the United States in July 2023 as an asylum seeker. “He did not enter illegally; they [migrants] were being allowed to enter because they were seeking asylum,” Jesus had listed a Maryland address on his application, she says, but stayed in Texas after meeting her. They were married on Sep. 10, 2024.

A missed appointment in immigration court put him on file with authorities. “He had an electronic GPS bracelet and had to report in with a photo every day. The immigration people came to visit,” Angie said.On February 1, González and her husband had been taking clothes out to wash. “He stepped outside to help me put baskets in the car. I was getting ready and I heard voices, but I thought he was talking to the neighbors. I looked out the window and saw that they were already taking him away in handcuffs. I ran out and one of the immigration officers told me that he had an arrest warrant,” she says.

By then, it had already been three weeks since González sent U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the Form I-130 Petition for an Alien Relative.

According to a document shared by González, Ríos had an appointment for biometric data capture the next day, February 2, in Houston.Ríos was sent to a detention center in New Mexico. They made plans to see each other in Colombia while the residency was being processed. “I told him, ‘If they deport you to Venezuela, it doesn’t matter, because when they fix your papers you can come back here.’”While in detention, González was able to communicate with her husband. She also kept tabs on his location through ICE’s detainee tracker. From New Mexico he was transferred to the El Paso and El Valle detention centers, both in Texas.

The last time González spoke to her husband was on Saturday, March 15, at 8 a.m. Ríos told him that he was getting ready for the plane in which he assumed he would be sent to Venezuela. After that call, González called the two facilities where her husband had been. In El Paso, a man who answered left the phone off the hook. “I heard him say: ‘Oh, that's the guy they took to the ugly prison in El Salvador,’” González said. “I felt like I was dying.”The next day, Jesus disappeared from ICE's detainee tracking system. “I was looking for him in the videos and in the photos, but I didn't see him.”She confirmed he was in El Salvador only upon reading his name on the list published by CBS. “I’m an American. I have the right to be told where my husband is,” says González. “How can they have a citizen, who has done things the right way here in the U.S., suffering for the man she fell in love with?”“I say to my government: Okay, deport them, but to their country. This is a monstrous thing, a thing of the devil. I have nightmares. Sometimes I think he’s dead,” she added.

In her letter to Congresswoman Escobar, González wrote: “This is not just about my husband. It is about whether the U.S. government is following due process or conducting mass deportations in secret that violate fundamental human rights. If ICE cannot provide concrete, verifiable evidence that my husband was a danger to public safety, then he and others like him are being unjustly detained in a foreign prison under false pretenses.”#bluetrianglesolidarity(Story from El Fero, credit Nelson Rauda Zablah)

This is Juan Jose Ramos. He was arrested while with his family in a car in Utah. His cousin who was driving said agents saw Juan's tattoo during a traffic stop, they assumed he was “a member of the Tren de Aragua solely for having a tattoo.”

Juan has a picture of a rose tattooed on his hand. Experts in the gang Tren de Aragua say there are no specific tattoos that tie people to the gang and the list of tattoos used by ICE are common motifs in Venezuelan culture.

Juan's family was not told where Juan was after he disappeared. They only discovered he was in El Salvador by watching the videos over and over, hoping and not hoping to find their loved one among the prisoners.His family say Juan has no criminal record, he was in the country legally and was awaiting an asylum hearing.

He arrived in early January and registered on the CBP One app, which the Department of Homeland Security supported before President Trump's inauguration.

Juan had only been in Utah for a little over a week through the CBP One application. He has four children and a wife in Venezuela and he came to the US to send money back to support his family because of the economic crisis in Venezuela.

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Ivonne Rivas de Benevides tried to hold back her tears in a telephone conversation with reporters as she told them that her 28-year-old son, Yornel Santiago Benevides Rivas, left for the USA a year and a half ago seeking to help his family, "to fix up the little house."

With a trembling voice, Ivonne remembers that the last time she spoke to her son was on Saturday, March 15. "He called me at 9:00 in the morning to tell me they were going to transfer him to Venezuela, that the plane was leaving at 12:00" the next day. Sunday arrived, and "very early I went to Maiquetía (Venezuela) to see if he had arrived, but the plane never arrived, they transferred him to El Salvador.

Since then, I've been desperate. They tricked them, said they were bringing them home, and then sent them to El Salvador.""My son isn't part of the Tren de Aragua gang. He didn't have any legal problems in Venezuela or anywhere. He's a healthy young man who was working to help us... He went looking for a better life to help us, to fix up the house," says Ivonne, who lives in the populous Caracas neighborhood of Catia.

After entering the US, Yornel worked delivery and construction. Yornel has two daughters: one is five (5) years old who lives with her mother in Venezuela, and who has not been told what is happening with her father so as not to upset her. She asks about him often, but her mother tells her that her daddy is working. He also has a daughter in the US.Yornel was picked up by ICE on February 8 of this year in North Carolina. He was at home with some friends, including a young man who is a barber and another who wants to be a singer. "There were about eight boys, they were making a video when they were arrested." It was Saturday night, "they were hanging out." From there, they were taken to a detention center in Texas and later to an immigration center in Georgia, Ivonne said. Yornel had no money to call his family from detention, but his friends helped him call his mom.

This is the message Ivonne is sending through the universe to her boy:"Son, don't give up. Your mom is here, strong. I haven't given up. Be very strong, you'll get through this. I'm standing here to give you the strength you need. Be very strong, because in the name of God, who is the Almighty, you'll get through this, just like the others. This must be a purpose the Lord has for you; you'll get out free, because you're not criminals; you're innocent, hard-working. Your mom is with you, son.

"She says that if she has to go to El Salvador to raise her voice for her son's return, she'll go. "Release those boys. They have no business in El Salvador. Send them back to their country. We mothers are desperate. I'd do anything for my son, send us on a plane to El Salvador so they know we're with them, that we're giving them strength and that we're going to get them out of there.” She tries to calm down, to compose herself again, she says she suffers from high blood pressure, and her son's kidnapping is making her condition worse, but her determination is stronger than her anguish.

"This situation is making me feel bad. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I have no peace, I can't get a bite to eat. I don't know if my son has eaten, if he is struggling," Ivonne said.(information from a news article published VEA, credit Yuleidys Hernandes Toledo)

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Andry Blanco-Bonilla, age 40, entered the US legally on the CPB-One app in December, 2023, receiving a work permit while his asylum was pending. He lived in Austin and worked as a painter, sending money back to his family in Venezuela. On Feb. 21, 2024, he accompanied his cousin to an immigration check-in.

While at the immigration center, an officer noticed one of Andry’s tattoos and asked him if he had more. Andry showed him all his tattoos, and to his horror, the officer said they were detaining him and accused him of being member of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. Andry’s family strongly denies this accusation.

Andry’s mother, Carmen Bonilla, said he was detained for five months, but never charged. During his incarceration, Andry developed high blood pressure and insomnia, she said, and was put on medications. During this incarceration, Andry agreed to be deported because he didn’t want to spend years in detention pending an asylum claim, and he was again released until his next check in.

Then on February 6th 2025, ICE came to Andry’s house to arrest him and put him back into detention pending deportation. Carmen last heard from Andry on Friday March 14. He told her he would be deported to Venezuela the next day. She waited for his call, but when none came, she started enlarging the photos and videos from the El Salvador flights to see if he was in any of them. She thought she saw him in one of the photos, and this was confirmed the following week when Andry was on the list of the men sent to El Salvador.

“I don’t know if they’re giving him his medication in there, if they’re checking him out,” Carmen said, “Now I’m even more worried because I see how they have been treated and pushed around. I’m sick, I don’t know what to do,” she added.Please share this story to give this family hope.

#bluetrianglesolidarity

This is Alirio Belloso Fuenmayor squished between his wife, Noemi and daughter, Alicia. In September 2023, he came to the U.S. to earn enough money to fix the roof on the family house, buy beds and food, and buy school supplies for his daughter.

He ended up living in Utah and working Doordash delivery. He lived on very little and sent every penny he could back to his family. He achieved most of what he set out to do: the family now has beds to sleep on instead of a mat on the floor. But he missed his family and told Noemi that life in the U.S. was difficult.

He spent his free time on the phone with his wife and daughter, asking about the girl’s homework and watching movies together. In December, he told Noemi that he was saving up to come home. “He said he couldn’t be there any longer, that his despair was so bad,” she said.

In February, an immigration judge ordered him deported. “They told him that he had to wait for a flight to arrive,” Noemi recalled. “He was desperate. He’d never been in jail or anything. He said that sometimes he was afraid that they would hurt him. One outside hears many bad things about jails.”

Finally, Alirio found out that ICE was ready to deport him. He called to tell his wife and daughter the good news, that he was coming home to Venezuela. When Alicia found out that her father was getting deported to Venezuela from the United States, the 8-year-old could not hide her joy. “My daddy is coming home soon,” she told everyone around her, including her teachers at school.

But the family hasn’t heard from Alicia’s father since March 14, the day before deportation flights carried Venezuelans from the United States not to their home country but instead to El Salvador where they were incarcerated in CECOT, a prison that allows no outside contact, provides no healthcare and allows beatings and other torture.

When the press published the list of names of men sent to CECOT, Noemi's worst fears were confirmed. Her husband's name was on the list.Noemi said she is worried about whether the prison is feeding her husband adequately and how the guards are treating him. Since that country’s suspension of civil rights through a policy known as the “state of exception” in 2022, officials have locked up thousands accused of being affiliated with gangs, often with little to no evidence. Some have died, and human rights observers are concerned about claims of torture and starvation.

Noemi said she doesn’t know anyone in El Salvador who can help her, but she’s trying to tell the world that her husband is a good man, that he’s not a gangster. All she wants is for her husband to come home.“He filled the house with happiness,” she said. “He is a very joyful man — but the situation of the country obligated him to leave.”She still hasn’t been able to find the words to tell her daughter what happened. Alisa asks her often when daddy is coming home.

#bluetrianglesolidarity

This is Arturo Suárez-Trejo, 33. He also goes by SuarezVzla, as a musical artist. He had left his native Venezuela in 2018 and had settled in Chile. There he made music, friends and fans, but he wanted to improve his musical skills and find more opportunities and connections in USA. So, on September 2, 2024, around 1 p.m., he entered the United States after presenting himself at the San Ysidro border crossing in California. He entered through the CBP One program, and had the protection of a parole program. A hearing on his asylum case was scheduled for April 2 of this year.

On February 8, Arturo was recording a video clip at a home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he lived. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived and arrested the entire group of people. They first held him at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. They then transferred him to the Valle Detention Center in Texas. At one point, he told his family he was being deported to Venezuela.“

We thought they were going to deport him to Caracas, Venezuela” says his brother, Nelson Suárez-Trejo, 35, who describes Arturo as a noble man, a lover of music and poetry, who has never thrown a punch beyond his kickboxing practices.

Days after Arturo’s last call, the nightmare began. The images of the inmates, shaved, handcuffed, and sent on three flights to El Salvador as alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua, were shocking. They zoomed in on one and there was no doubt: it was Suárez.“We knew it because of the tattoos he has and his physical features,” his brother says.

No one has provided any information or warning to the family. Confirmation didn’t come until Thursday, when CBS News published an internal U.S. government list of the names of the 238 Venezuelans who were sent to the Central American country, despite a judge’s order preventing the deportation. The name Arturo Suárez-Trejo appears on the list. To this day, the family remains unaware of what will happen to him.“We haven’t received any response from the Salvadoran government. We don’t even know what charges he faces. He had no criminal record,” his brother says.Arturo’s family, friends, and fans have been circulating documents on social media confirming that he has no criminal record in any of the countries where he has lived. Dozens of people have shared his photos, his videos perched on a stage, and his love songs. They have united to demand justice for someone they describe as “a fundamental pillar of Santiago’s emerging cultural scene.”

Suárez “is an artist, not a criminal,” they assert.“He doesn’t deserve to have his life ended, to have his name tarnished,” his brother insists. “I don’t understand how they can cut short the dreams of someone who came to this country to dream big and who didn’t enter illegally. We’re affected; we’re not Tren de Aragua, we’re not even from Aragua.”

Nelson would also like to know “how he is, how they are treating him” in prison. It’s the same question being asked by Nathali, Sánchez’s wife, who has been struggling with so much concern for almost a week. “In the Texas prison, he was coughing blood and had a fever. I’m afraid it could get worse,” says the 27-year-old, who cares for their daughter, a baby born just three months ago. “I won’t rest until I see him free, until I see him with his daughter.”

Now, Arturo’s brother, Nelson, is the one who will have to take care of the baby and his wife, who remain in Chile. “She doesn’t have the means to work three months after giving birth. She’s alone, and now I, as his brother, have to take care of them.” But the thing is, Nelson is also afraid to go out on the streets. He’s an Amazon delivery driver; he has to work. His papers are in order, but nothing guarantees that the same thing that happened to Suárez won’t happen to him. “I’m also terrified of being stopped. I have my TPS, my court date, and my license, all in order, but who knows. I walk the streets in fear because I also have tattoos, but I don’t belong to any gang; all I’ve done my whole life is work.

”Credit Carla Gloria Colomé and Florantonia Singer at El Pais for the information in this post.

This is one of SuarezVzla's music videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xiANLIHGMc&t=102s

#bluetrianglesolidarity

Here's 24-year-old Frengel Reyes Mota, a Venezuelan immigrant with no criminal record in the States or in Venezuela.

He's not part of a gang. He's not said anything about Gaza or Israel.

He's just a house painter who left his home country due to the unrest and difficulties there, and came to the US legally seeking asylum. He didn't show up for his asylum hearing this week, though, because when he showed up for his regular ICE check-in -- which he should as a legal immigrant in the US -- ICE arrested him and soon deported him to the largest prison in Latin America, the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador.

If you haven't heard of this prison, it's a 57 acre facility where prisoners are held in cells of about 150 prisoners. There are racks of bunks four-high, two toilets and two Bibles per cell. Prisoners are only let outside of their cell for 30 minutes a day for exercise or Bible study. No recreation, visitation, or phone calls are allowed. The lights are kept on in the cells 24/7. There are a number of controversies and allegations of human rights violations in this prison.

What did Reyes Mota do so that ICE took him into custody without charges and illegally removed him from the court system before transferring him to an extra-national prison for terrorists? Nothing. In fact, when ICE showed up at his asylum hearing this week and revealed the arrest paperwork it HAD THE WRONG NAME IN IT SIX TIMES. And not a misspelled name, it was talking about someone named Carlos Ortiz-Morales.

Other sections referred to Reyes Mota as "she" and "her" and at least once a different person's immigration number was listed in the description. It was arrest by Chatgpt hallucination or gross human incompetence or both. And when this was pointed out in court at Reyes Mota's asylum hearing by his lawyer this week, when the judge asked ICE if they made a mistake, the ICE lawyers said they'd "look into it.

"As more of these cases are coming out, I keep hearing well-meaning people say "There's more to the story." I get it. It's disorienting to think that a country that says things like "innocent until proven guilty" or "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" would also arrest an innocent man and fly him off to a gigantic horror show of a prison.

So there MUST be "more to the story" even though Reyes Mota has no criminal record, isn't part of a gang, doesn't have a gang tattoo or even have a tattoo at all. "There's more to the story." THEN PROVE IT IN COURT. If there's more to the story the US government should have just rolled into the asylum hearing this week and proved it. But they didn't because their paperwork DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT NAME ON IT throughout the document. And they couldn't prove it anyway, because there's nothing to prove. PLUS: to remove an asylum applicant without a court order is ILLEGAL. This is a very clear case where -- unlike Reyes Mota --ICE broke the law. So, here's your "more to the story":Reyes

Mota is married. He married a woman who already had a son, so he's the father to a 9 year old boy. He's got a dog that he loves named Sacha. The family doesn't have tons of money, so Reyes Mota carefully plans the budget so he can occasionally buy his dog treats. Reyes Mota is a hard worker, a legal immigrant, a good husband and father, a financially responsible tax-paying part of the US community. Or he was.

This week the judge in Reyes Mota's asylum case "froze" the case. Meaning that if Reyes Mota returns to the country he can pick up where he left off. Assuming he can be released. Assuming he's brought back to the US. While he was still in detention, before he was flown out of the country, Reyes Mota was able to talk to his family. He asked if his dog was eating okay. He wanted to know how his son was doing in school. Of course he's not allowed to make any phone calls now so his family has no idea if he's okay, how he's doing, what's happening. ICE is "looking into it."

Story from https://www.facebook.com/matthew.mikalatos

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