Tattoos, Gangs, and Deportations

Tattoos are often part of cultural and racial identity and are frequently used to label Black people and Latinos as gang members

Photo by Maixent Viau on Unsplash

Recently, Pablo Manríquez at Migrant Insider broke a couple of stories about Venezuelan migrants being detained in Guantanamo. The migrants discussed in Pablo’s reporting do not appear to be gang members or criminals despite the administration’s claims that only gang members and violent criminals are being sent to Cuba. Neither had a criminal record and the justification for labeling them as gang members was based on some seemingly random tattoos.

Using tattoos to label people as gang members has been a tool of oppression employed by local, state, and federal law enforcement for decades. Since the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) under Bill Clinton, tattoos have become a weapon to target immigrants, legal or otherwise. Since then, the problem has only grown, as evidenced by the claim that a Venezuelan migrant with a Michael Jordan tattoo is a gang member.

There’s no question that some tattoos are gang-affiliated, especially when you see a giant MS-13 tattoo across someone’s chest. But a Michael Jordan tattoo is a stretch. As are tattoos resembling ancient art from native…