Family members are stunned by Venezuelans: ‘He is not a criminal’

This article was last updated on March 20, 2025

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Family members are stunned by Venezuelans: ‘He is not a criminal’

The controversial evictions in the US of more than 200 Venezuelans lead to shocked reactions among family members. Myrelis Casique López had been told that her son would be deported. She was happy with it and looked forward to closing him back in her arms in Venezuela. But then she saw him on television images: fascinated and shaved, he was led into a prison in El Salvador with dozens of others with great display, about 2300 kilometers away.

“That’s him. That’s him,” says Casique against the BBC From her house in a poor neighborhood in the Venezuelan city of Maracay. She points to a photo on which dozens of prisoners are in rows, chained their hands and legs. She recognizes him by a tattoo on his arm.

She is convinced that her 24-year-old son Francisco José García Casique is innocent. He left Venezuela in 2019 and since then she no longer saw him in person. The first years he stayed in Peru, in September 2023 he crossed the border with America illegally, according to his mother.

Hairdresser

According to the US government, the more than two hundred Venezuelans are all gang members, but much is unclear. “He is not a criminal, he was a hairdresser,” says Casique. “Unfortunately, he has tattoos.” Roses and the names of family members are tattooed on his body; His mother suspects that he has been secured and deported.

The Venezuelans were therefore not taken to their home country, but to the Central American country El Salvador. There they ended up in a “prison for terrorists” that is specially built for gang members and serious criminals. Last month the US and El Salvador concluded an agreement on the deportation of migrants, regardless of what nationality they have.

Venezuelan gang members from the US shaved and locked up in El Salvador

For the expansions, the government used the Alien Enemies Act, a war law from 1798 that was only used three times. Civil rights organization ACLU had received the air from the deportations and moisture that still at the last minute for a number of Venezuelans. A federal judge in Washington prohibited the exposure, but nevertheless three planes with Venezuelans landed in El Salvador.

It led to A big clash Between the Trump government and judges in the US. Trump called the judge in question, James Boasberg, a “radical-left madman” on social media that must be deposited. These qualifications, highly exceptional, suggested John Roberts for it to record for his colleague. He pointed out Trump that the departure of judges is not the way to resolve legal conflicts. Roberts wrote that in the US it has been customary for more than two centuries to then appeal legal profession.

Clock -shaped tattoo

Johanny Sánchez also did not know what she was experiencing when she found out that her husband, Franco Caraballo, had been transferred from Texas to the Mega prison in El Salvador. Sánchez tells the AP news agency that her husband is not a gang member. He had an asylum request and, according to her, had reported to the immigration service in February for a mandatory agreement. What gang member would do that, says his wife.

“We have always kept the law,” says Sánchez. She also thinks that tattoos killed him. Due to a bell -shaped tattoo, the Americans would conclude that he is sitting at Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. His wife says it is a picture to mark his daughters birthday. “We fled from Venezuela for a better future. We could never have imagined that our lives would get worse.”

‘A mistake must have been made’

The mother of Mervin Yamarte (29) also recognized her son in the video that El Salvador released. She tells the BBC that in 2023 her son was crossed the border illegally together with three friends. According to her, he worked in a Tortilla factory, sometimes twelve hours a day. “On Sunday he played Football with friends. He is a good, noble young man. A mistake must have been made.”

The Trump government seems to know no doubt that the Venezuelans are all criminal gang members. In the eyes of Stephen Miller, deputy Staff Chef in the White House, “Try to undermine Trump’s second term. Tom Homan, responsible for border policy, noted that he “doesn’t care what the judges think”.

In the meantime, Judge Boasberg continues to claim information from Trumps government. He wants to know if his order to cease the exposure is aware of the expenses. He also wants to be able to determine whether the government has abused an old law to send Venezuelans to El Salvador without any legal assessment.