Man deported to 'world's worst prison' after tattoos are mistaken for something else as family explain true meaning

The family of a man have come out to reveal that the tattoos of their relative that were used to deport him actually have a very different meaning.

Franco José Caraballo Tiapa, a Venezuelan asylum seeker, was deported as part of US President Donald Trump’s bid to rid the nation of those who illegally immigrated, or those who have immigrated and have committed crimes.

However, while the 26-year-old was shipped off to El Salvador by the Trump administration on grounds that his ink proved that he was part of a gang, his family state otherwise.

On his body, he has a tattoo of a rose, one of a lion, and a razor blade on his neck that represents his work as a barber.

He also has two tribute tattoos for his eldest daughter, Shalome, which include a pocket watch featuring the time of her birth and black letters on his chest that spells out the toddler’s name.

Caraballo was accused of being a member of Venezuela’s most notorious gang, Tren de Aragua because of his ink, but the father-of-two’s family and his lawyer disagree.

“He’s just a normal kid … he likes tattoos – that’s it,” said Martin Rosenow, the attorney who represents Caraballo.

When he was detained by US immigration officials in Dallas last month, it is said that they used his tattoos as a way to identify him as a gang member, and shipped him off to one of the world’s worst prisons.

But relatives describe them as tributes to God, family, and Real Madrid.

An official Department of Homeland Security document which was issued in February and reviewed by the Guardian states shares details of his detention and deportation, claiming that he is part of the gang.

It states: “[The] subject [Caraballo] has been identified as a Member/Active of Tren de Aragua.

However, it does not explain how agents concluded their assessment of him.

It also states that Caraballo is a ‘deportable/excludable alien’ with no known criminal history ‘at this time’.

Rosenow hit back at the belief that his tattoos caused him to be lumped in with gang members, and said: “It’s specious – there’s no basis [for this conclusion].

“Experts in Venezuela who study the gang have all stated that there are no tattoos that associate gang members. It’s not like the Central American MS-13 gang where tattoos are relevant in their organization.”

“Tren de Agua has no [specific] tattoos,” Rosenow continued. “If you see pictures [of actual Tren de Aragua members arrested in the US], they’re shirtless and many of them don’t even have tattoos.

“I’m nauseated by it all. I’m distressed for these individuals. I’m sad for what this means. As an American, for me it’s disgraceful that we would violate human rights so flagrantly on an international level.”

Caraballo entered the US in October 2023, and he is just one of many men deported without a criminal past.

The White House described the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador as ‘heinous monsters’, however, it did not release any detailed information about their alleged crimes.

UNILAD reached out to the White House for comment.