Using dubious tattoos to criminalize various nonwhite groups, particularly Black people and Latinos, as gang members, is one of the most-used tools in law enforcement’s toolbox and has been for decades. With the Trump administration weaponizing the tactic against Venezuelan immigrants, the general public is now seeing just how dangerous the use of such databases has become.
Read more about how tattoos are weaponized
Tattoos, Gangs, and Deportations
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 c…
Court Docs: Street Clothes, Tattoos, and Dubious Claims of Gang Affiliation
Recent documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) titled the “Alien Enemies Act Validation Guide” show that someone’s gang association is often confirmed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents simply saying a tattoo or something as simple as a logo on branded street cloth…
Analysis: ICE Exposes Deeply Ingrained Fascism In the U.S.
Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its tentacle agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and various other agencies under each of those, they have shown us glimpses of what they do when they
Analysis: Why Trump Is Weaponizing Tattoos and Antisemitism So Broadly
The recent announcement by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to screen noncitizens' social media activity for antisemitism is yet another step toward the United States becoming everything they told us about countries they want us to hate, like Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, China, and North Korea. Agents given t…
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