The dream of a better life in the United States turned into a nightmare, for eight Venezuelans who were deported this Saturday, March 15, to the Center for Confinement of Terrorists (Cecot, in spanish), a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Their ordeal began last Saturday after the President of the United States, Donald Trump, declared that the Tren de Aragua was «perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States.»
With this announcement, the president ordered that Venezuelans in the United States, aged 14 and older, who are members of the Tren de Aragua, be detained and expelled, invoking the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that the country has only used in times of war.
Federal judge James E. Boasberg’s blocked the measure, arguing that the law did not apply in this case because the United States was not at war. However, the Trump administration went ahead and sent the detained Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador.
«Oopsie! … too late,» responded Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, regarding the U.S. government’s failure to comply with the judge’s order. The Venezuelans were already on Salvadoran soil.
Bukele announced the arrival of the deported Venezuelans, suggesting that they were all part of a criminal gang. “The first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua,” he stated, despite the fact that they had not undergone judicial processes to determine whether they actually belonged to the transnational criminal organization. The Tren de Aragua originated in the Aragua Penitentiary Center, known as Tocorón, and has expanded across a dozen countries in the Americas.
«They Are Not from the Tren de Aragua»
Since this deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador became known, more and more families have been speaking out through the media and social networks to declare the innocence of their loved ones against accusations that they are members of the Tren de Aragua.
The names Anyelo Sarabia, Franco Caraballo, Francisco Javier García Casique, Mervin José Yamarte, Gustavo Adolfo Aguilera Agüero, Alirio Guillermo Belloso Fuenmayor, Henry Javier Vargas Lugo, and Arturo Suárez Trejo have appeared in various media reports. What they have in common is that they were sent from the United States to El Salvador—most of them for having tattoos.
Efecto Cocuyo spoke with the family of Anyelo Sarabia, a 19-year-old from La Victoria, Aragua, who was sent to El Salvador solely for having a tattoo on his left hand depicting a rose and $100 bills.
His sister, Michel González, said that Sarabia was arrested on January 31, 2025, when he attended an immigration appointment. The young man had entered the country through the now-defunct CBP One program.
In a video received by Efecto Cocuyo, Sarabia’s mother and relatives protested, demanding his release. They insist that he is not part of any criminal gang and has no criminal record.
Taken from Their Workplaces
The Miami Herald reported on the case of Mervin José Yamarte Fernández, a 29-year-old Venezuelan who was arrested in Texas while working as a server at a restaurant. The Trump administration labeled him a member of Tren de Aragua based solely on his tattoos and, like Sarabia, deported him to Bukele’s emblematic maximum-security prison.
His sister, Jare, defends Mervin’s innocence and asserts that he has no criminal record. She also made it clear that there is no public evidence linking him to the organization—only a mistaken interpretation of his tattoos.
As well, the same newspaper highlighted the case of Henry Javier Vargas Lugo, a 32-year-old Venezuelan from La Guaira, Vargas. He was arrested on January 29, 2025, in Aurora, Colorado, where he had been residing for nearly a year and working in construction.
The Trump administration also accused him of belonging to the Tren de Aragua due to his tattoos, which were crowns with the names of loved ones. That was the only evidence they used to send him to El Salvador.
His sister, Nayrobis Vargas, insists on his innocence and emphasized that Henry was never involved in criminal activities. She added that the authorities lack concrete evidence beyond the marks on his skin.
The Miami Herald also reported the case of Gustavo Aguilera, a 27-year-old Venezuelan arrested on January 30, 2025, in Houston, Texas, while working as a food delivery driver. The Trump administration labeled him as a member of the Tren de Aragua because of his tattoos, which were a tribal design and the names of his family members, without presenting public evidence beyond that assumption. Aguilera is also in the Salvadoran mega-prison. His sister, Ysmar Aguilera, warns that the young man has no criminal record and was living legally in the U.S. on humanitarian parole.
Tattoos as a Common Denominator
The news agency Reuters documented the case of Franco Caraballo, a 26-year-old Venezuelan detained in Texas, who was similarly linked to the criminal gang because of his tattoos.
On March 14, 2025, he called his wife, Johanny Sánchez, to inform her that he would be deported to Venezuela, despite having a pending asylum application and a hearing scheduled for March 19. However, on March 16, he was sent to the Central American country.
Franco’s family, particularly his wife Johanny, insists that he has no ties to Tren de Aragua and no criminal record. She described his tattoos as roses, a clock with his daughter’s time of birth, a lion, and a razor blade, emphasizing that they do not carry any criminal meaning. His sister highlighted that Franco has been a hardworking barber since the age of 13 and is a devout Christian.
A Barber in Prison
Another media outlet that reported on the family’s complaints about deported Venezuelans was El Estímulo. It shared the story of Francisco Javier García Casique, a 24-year-old barber from Aragua state, who was detained after he went to an ICE office in Laredo, Texas, on April 22, 2024, to seek advice about his immigration proceedings, as he couldn’t find the date of his court hearing online.
At that moment, officers detained him due to his tattoos and his place of origin, linking him to Tren de Aragua without any concrete evidence. Despite having no criminal record, he is now imprisoned in El Salvador.
Through social media, relatives of Alirio Guillermo Belloso Fuenmayor, a Venezuelan from Zulia state who entered the United States with a CBP One appointment, reported that the young man was detained by immigration agents at his workplace, along with other colleagues. While several were released, Alirio was held solely because of a tattoo on his body, which led the Trump administration to link him to Tren de Aragua without any evidence.
His family found out through the news that he had been transferred to CECOT.
A Musician Also Detained
Efecto Cocuyo also reported the deportation of Arturo Alejandro Suárez Trejo, a 28-year-old Venezuelan musician from Barquisimeto, Lara, who was detained on February 8, 2025, in North Carolina, during an ICE raid while he was filming a music video.
The White House labeled him as a suspected member of Tren de Aragua because of a tattoo on his neck, a rose with a snake.
Suárez had migrated to Chile in 2018 and then to the United States in September 2024, seeking opportunities in music, leaving behind his wife Nathalí Sánchez and their daughter.
His family strongly defends his innocence, emphasizing that Arturo is a talented musician and a devout Christian, not a criminal.
His wife recounted that his tattoos, such as the one on his neck and another on his chest with his daughter’s name, were personal expressions, not criminal symbols, and that he worked hard to send money back to Venezuela from the U.S.