The Goalie Who Disappeared

Summary

Podcast Summary: Pablo Torre Finds Out – "The Goalie Who Disappeared"

Show: Pablo Torre Finds Out (Le Batard & Friends)
Host: Pablo Torre
Guests/Correspondent: Paula Ramos (Emmy-winning journalist)
Date: May 1, 2025
Episode Description: An investigative exploration into how a Venezuelan soccer goalie, Jerzy Reyes Barrios, became “disappeared” by U.S. authorities—all because of a Real Madrid tattoo—and was deported to a notorious Salvadoran mega-prison. The episode unpacks intersections between sports, migration, U.S. immigration policy, racial profiling, and state power, through deeply-reported storytelling by Torre and Ramos.

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Episode Overview

The episode centers around the story of Jerzy Reyes Barrios, a professional soccer player from Venezuela who, after fleeing political persecution and seeking asylum in the U.S., was detained, misidentified as a gang member due to a tattoo, and forcibly deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador. The case exemplifies the dangers of bureaucratic incompetence, misconceptions about gang “identifiers,” and the erosion of due process protections for migrants. Through interviews, investigative reporting, and moving testimonials, Pablo Torre and guest reporter Paula Ramos unravel how this “tattoo from hell” led to Jerzy’s disappearance — and what it reveals about the current state of U.S. immigration policy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Real Madrid Fandom and The Fateful Tattoo (00:39–06:20)

• Nostalgia for Real Madrid: The episode opens with Ramos recalling how growing up in Madrid in the 1990s, Real Madrid was an omnipresent, unifying force. The team’s cultural power and worldwide appeal (“You felt it in the streets. You felt it everywhere.” – [00:59] B).
• The Iconic Goalie: Both Pablo and Paula reminisce about their idolization of Iker Casillas, Real Madrid’s legendary goalkeeper, highlighting soccer’s power to inspire.
• Enter Jerzy Reyes Barrios: The story pivots to Venezuela in 2018, where Jerzy Reyes Barrios, a soccer player, gets a tattoo representing his love for Real Madrid: a soccer ball, a crown, a rosary, and the word “Dios.”
  • "This is a story about the tattoo from hell." – [03:15] B
  • The tattoo, intended to symbolize pride and passion, will later be misinterpreted as evidence of gang affiliation.

2. Jerzy’s Life and Migration Journey (10:00–24:57)

• Upbringing and Sport: Jerzy grows up in the rural town of Machiques, Venezuela, learning goalkeeping from his father and eventually becoming a professional player.
  • "When his sister talks about Jesse, it's just football." – [10:53] B
• Venezuelan Crisis Fallout: Economic and political turmoil forces Jerzy to migrate to Colombia for work and to support his family, including his ailing father.
  • "Most of his soccer players are gone... because many of them have had to flee Venezuela..." – [17:28] B
• From Colombia to the U.S.: After protesting against the Maduro regime and suffering arrest, threats, and torture, Jerzy is compelled to flee. He survives the harrowing Darien Gap jungle crossing, legal border processing via the CBP1 app, and months in U.S. immigrant detention.

3. The Deportation, the Tattoo, and U.S. Policy (27:47–34:12)

• Tattoo as "Evidence": The Trump administration claims Jerzy’s Real Madrid tattoo is proof he belongs to Venezuela’s feared Tren de Aragua gang. The show meticulously debunks this:
  • "[DHS] alleges that this is proof of gang membership. This tattoo from hell." – [28:15] A
  • Experts in Venezuelan criminology and gang culture confirm that such tattoos have no real gang meaning ([30:01] A), and many soccer stars, like Neymar and Dybala, sport similar ink.
• Profiling and Bias: The podcast highlights how everyday, culturally significant tattoos (even the Air Jordan “Jumpman” logo) appear on government PowerPoints as supposed gang markers.
  • "If they were just random black and brown men walking down the streets... they would be racially profiled because of their tattoos." – [32:01] B

4. The Disappearance and Aftermath (34:16–43:23)

• Jerzy’s Final Days in the U.S.:
  • Attorney Lynette Tobin recounts her frantic efforts to locate Jerzy as ICE transfers him between prisons without transparency ([34:23] C). The family learns from TV reports of massive deportations to El Salvador and recognizes him in footage from inside the mega-prison.
  • "They simply never... removed him from the app. He's still on my app as someone who is present in the U.S. at this point, Prison in Texas." – [34:41] C
• The Salvadoran Mega-Prison: Jerzy is among hundreds sent from the U.S. to the newly built, internationally criticized “terrorist” complex, where basic rights and communications are denied.
  • "They have disappeared them. The government has refused to say where they're being held, even though we know where they're being held. They have no contact with their attorneys, no contact with their families... They have been disappeared by our government." – [38:51] C
• Government Response: The Department of Homeland Security, when pressed by Pablo Torre, fails to provide any substantive evidence against Jerzy, instead affirming the policy of secrecy and “national security” ([42:10] A).

5. Resonance and Community Impact (45:58–49:22)

• Family and Hometown: Jerzy’s family, partner, and hometown soccer community grieve and remain in limbo, as kids at the club he once trained pray for his safe return. His face is painted in murals; his story serves as an ongoing cautionary and rallying point.
  • "Practice now ends with a prayer and practice ends with Jersey's name in people's minds." – [48:14] B
  • The episode ends in tribute, reframing Francisco’s story as both a personal tragedy and a larger warning about unchecked state power.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Power of Sport:
  • “Everyone loved Iker Casillas, even my old, little young gay self.” – Paola, [02:05] B
• On the Infamous Tattoo:
  • "Technically, we're literally talking about a tattoo. This is a story about the tattoo from hell..." – Paola, [03:15] B
• On Bureaucratic Cruelty:
  • "It's lazy, it's cruel, it's racist." – Paola, [33:15] B
• On Government Secrecy:
  • "They have disappeared them... They have no contact with their attorneys, no contact with their families. Not even the International Red Cross has been able to see these people." – Lynette Tobin, [38:51] C
• On Loss and Hope:
  • "Practice now ends with a prayer and practice ends with Jersey's name..." – Paola, [48:14] B
  • "It's hard not to think of that as the goalie's prayer, right? Praying for someone now to save him." – Pablo Torre, [49:05] A

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Important Timestamps

• 00:39–06:20 — Real Madrid fandom, the story behind the tattoo
• 10:00–14:44 — Jerzy’s early life, rise in Venezuelan football
• 17:12–20:55 — The Venezuelan crisis, migration of athletes
• 20:55–24:57 — Jerzy’s flight from political persecution; journey to the U.S.
• 27:47–32:37 — Tattoo as “evidence,” racially-motivated profiling, expert refutations
• 34:16–39:34 — Attorney’s account, the disappearance, the mega-prison in El Salvador
• 45:58–49:22 — The impact on Jerzy’s family, soccer club, and community

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Final Reflections

Through empathetic, investigative storytelling, Pablo Torre and Paola Ramos reveal the devastating consequences of “strategic incompetence” and discriminatory immigration policy. The wrongful disappearance of Jerzy Reyes Barrios, rooted in the misreading of a soccer tattoo, crystallizes the grave human cost of such state actions — while shining light on the resilience of families, communities, and the enduring spirit of the game.

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For additional details or verification, refer to specific timestamps above. The podcast’s intimate mix of narrative, advocacy, and reportage makes this episode an essential listen for anyone interested in migration, sports, or civil rights.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre. And today we're gonna find out what this sound is.

[B]

Help Jersey, who was a great trainer for us. Guide him wherever he is.

[A]

Right after this ad. You're listening to DraftKings. Your fandom for Real Madrid is.

[B]

It's real in the sense that I. I grew up in. In Madrid in the 90s when it's sort of exploding. I played basketball, like, basketball was my thing, but there was no way to not love Real Madrid as a kid during those years. Now, you had, like, everyone sort of was. Was pulled into the game.

[A]

They incentivized young kids growing up around Spain to be a front runner.

[B]

You felt it in the streets. You felt it everywhere. It was.

[A]

It. It was amazing watching this team, this club. Excuse me, Come to power. For people who don't know anything about Real Madrid don't give a. About soccer. What was that like?

[B]

That was like, to me, like 1998, I believe is. It's. Is when it happens. I think I'm like, 10 years old. It's one of the first times that my mom lets me stay up super late. And we're all watching the Real Madrid team parading through the streets of Madrid, ending up in this huge fountain called Cibeles. They take off their shirts and they're just, like, drinking champagne. There's this, like, turning point in who Real Madrid is.

[A]

Yes, they become globally popular. They are globally a brand that lots of people know and care deeply about. Who didn't grow up in Madrid like you. When it comes to your favorite player, though, the soccer player that you were most entranced by on this team, who would that be?

[B]

Oh, I remember Iker Casillas. And I'll tell you, even I'm as gay as you can get. But Iker Garcillas. Everyone loved Iger Casillas, even my. My old, little young gay self.

[A]

I am as straight as it gets. And I also love.

[B]

So we're going to love each other.

[A]

Iker Casillas. When I play on FIFA, I'm like, this goalie is the one I want. But he couldn't get it beyond the trailing leg of the Spanish captain. Very handsome.

[B]

Yeah, I believed it, too. He is.

[A]

When I thought about, who do I need to help us understand and report this story? I was turning to you before I knew that you had any affiliation with Real Madrid as a concept. And now it feels almost inevitable that I would have had you work on something for weeks. And thank you so much for being here and for doing that, because it's one of the biggest stories going on, certainly in America, but also Latin America and also the world. You can make it as grandiose as you want, but it begins with something that's quite specific and quite small.

[B]

Technically, we're literally talking about a tattoo. This is a story about the tattoo from hell. We're talking about 2018, the small town of Venezuela, and this tattoo is inked by this guy called Victor. And during that time, one of his best friends, Jerzy Reyes Barrios, walks in and he asks for a tattoo of the Real Madrid, the favorite soccer team of Jerci Barrios. Jerze is someone that ends up becoming a goalie and ends up becoming a professional soccer player in Venezuela. But his very favorite soccer player is also Iger Casillas from Real Madrid. I mean, that was his dream and his idol growing up. He has a bunch of other tattoos. He has musical notes, a map of Venezuela, a goalkeeper, a hand with the pinky and the index fingers going up.

[A]

I'm imagining, like, the rock and roll thing, right? A pinky and index finger up like that.

[B]

Exactly. That's exactly that. And he also has tattoos of his two daughters. That's who Jersey is.

[A]

And so he walks in, and he wants a new one. And his specific desire for this new tattoo is gonna be what it's all.

[B]

Based on his love for Real Madrid. And he asked for something very simple, and that is a ball with a crown sitting on top. If you zoom into this tattoo, it's the ball, a crown on top, a rosary.

[A]

But the Real Madrid part, I guess, to do the little bit of Spanish translation, I could do, real means royal.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And in this specific case, Real Madrid, more than any other club, has claims to being the royal franchise of Spain. This is sort of its own heritage, is that it does have a crown as certainly the most distinguishing part of its own logo.

[B]

When Dirty walks into that tattoo parlor, he's specifically thinking about this team. And that's what the tattoo artist will tell you. That when he walks in and he gets this inked in his skin, it is all to sort of romanticize.

[A]

He might have been thinking at this moment about Iker Casillas.

[B]

That's right. As a goalie himself, literally, he's probably thinking about that. But you know what he was not thinking about in that moment? That is the fact that this tattoo would, years later, turn him into this alleged criminal gang member, and that that tattoo would essentially make him disappear.

[A]

Okay, so whether or not you're a sports fan much less a fan of Real Madrid. I'm going to guess you've heard about the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

[B]

For anyone just joining us, we're following breaking developments in the case of Kilmar Abreco Garcia, a Maryland resident who officials admit was expelled by mistake.

[A]

And then they looked and on his knuckles he had MS.13. There's a dispute. Wait a minute, wait a minute. He had MS.13 on his knuckles. Tattoos. He had some tattoos that are interpreted that way, but let's move on. Hundreds of illegal criminal gang members from Venezuela getting dropped off at a mega prison in El Salvador. They get free haircuts. That's a good thing. President Trump deported them under the Alien Enemies Act. The Alien enemies Act of 1798 signed into law by President John Adams, allows non citizens to be deported without due process during times of war.

[B]

Are you planning to do more deportations?

[A]

I can tell you this.

[B]

These were bad people.

[A]

That was a bad group of, as I say, lombres. All of which is alarming, to say the least, to the point that even Republican loyalists to Trump, like Senator John Kennedy, for instance, the other day on Meet the Press, have called the ordeal, quote, a screw up. A screw up.

[B]

Mr. Garcia was not supposed to be.

[A]

Sent to El Salvador. He was sent to El Salvador. Now, the case of Mr. Garcia and the men sent to El Salvador with him is held up in the courts right now, including the Supreme Court, as we wait to see, I suppose, if the rule of law under the Trump administration is gonna hold. But meanwhile, we have been promised something. We have been promised that this is not a pattern.

[B]

I don't see any pattern here.

[A]

I mean, someday pigs may fly, but I doubt it. But there is a pattern emerging, and you may have heard about this part, too, these other horrifying ordeals for these alleged gang members. Among hundreds of alleged gang members deported this past week to El Salvador was a Venezuelan migrant with a job and no criminal record, gay makeup artist with no criminal record in this country or in his home country, Venezuela.

[C]

At least 44 of the individuals who.

[B]

Appear on the list obtained by CBS News do not appear to have criminal records in the US Or Venezuela.

[A]

And in fact, this administration this week has decided to display the faces of these alleged terrorists on the lawn of the White House itself, just in time, as it happens, for Saquon Barkley and the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles to visit and celebrate their big super bowl win. All of which helps explain why the person sitting in our studio today is the Emmy winning journalist Paula Ramos. Most recently, the author of a book called the Rise of the Latino Know Far Right and what It Means for America. And Paula is here with me because she has been reporting on immigration for a decade now, and in fact, she just returned this week from the jungles of the Darien gap between Latin America and South America. And she has also reported for Vice on the exact intersection of where our story is going to take us today. Tattoos, abductions, and now sports. This is a sports story in which we have a disappearing soccer player, a mystery around this tattoo from hell, as you called it. And so I want to further push the sports part of it. I just want a scouting report on who hearse is, where he came from, him, the person.

[B]

So everyone you talk to when they mention the name is that he was sweet. He's this very sweet, kind young boy. He grows up in northern Venezuela in a town called Machiques, literally known for, like, for cows. It's rural. Everyone says that he loved to draw. He likes to dance salsa. I talked to his sister, Jorge Liz Reyes Bar, who's still living in that town, by the way. Even talking to her was a little bit hard just because of the Internet connection and the power was out a lot of times. But she still really, really wanted to talk about her brother. When she talks about her brother, she remembers him loving baseball as a very young kid. But the interesting thing is that Jersey's dad is a border. He's a goalie. So Jerci kind of grows up watching his dad playing soccer, and then he starts to sort of love the game and love the sport. Jersey's father starts training his son slowly. Jerci kind of forgets about baseball. He's completely focused on soccer. This love for Real Madrid starts. This obsession with the game starts. One of the things that his sister told me repeatedly was para todre al futbol. Football. Football. I mean, literally, when his sister talks about Jesse, it's just football. That's literally all that she talks about, because that's the image that comes to her mind. The thing about jse, and that's what his sister describes, is that he kept going, like, he kept fighting for this dream. He starts training with one of his dad's former teammates. It's this coach named Jorse Jose Villoria. This coach is still in the very same town where Jerze grew up.

[A]

So describe what we're seeing here, this place that he grew up.

[B]

What was, I think, beautiful about this conversation that I had with the coach is that he was just like, kind of he Couldn't wait to get out of that room and show me the field where he watched Jerci grow up. So there's this moment where he literally, like, takes me out, and he's like, come with me. And he walks down the street and he starts. You know, he flips his camera the other way, and he literally shows me in this very humble field in the middle of nowhere. And you can see there's literally, like, not much around there. This gives them so much pride. This gives them so much dignity. And this is the field where this coach watches Jersey grow up.

[A]

So when he's climbing the ladder, what does his ascent look like through soccer to the pros?

[B]

He joins these, like, travel teams. So he gets to travel across Venezuela, different regions, different cities. He then becomes a starting keeper on a champion under 16 national team. He actually made it to a tournament in Barcelona. So I'm just, like, picturing this Exactly. This kid that is obsessed with Real Madrid, and he eventually makes it pro. Knowing the Venezuelan pro Football league.

[A]

I'm imagining a goalkeeper. The pressure that you have to not this up.

[B]

That's what the coach kept talking about. El ultimo torneo que Hugo. You know, this, like, specific moment in this specific era where Jerzed leads his team to the final of the third division.

[A]

The third division is a division you want to escape if you have bigger dreams for yourself. And on the line in this game that you guys were talking about is promotion to the second division, which is a huge deal.

[B]

From what he describes, it comes down to penalty kicks. All this tension building up. Whether they make it or not depends on these penalty kicks. Then what the coach says is that Jersey's team scores. So all eyes are on him. Right?

[A]

Everyone is the lonely thing.

[B]

Yeah. Will he stop the next goal or not? He just needs to do this one save. Crowd goes wild. That he becomes a hero. He becomes this idol. And that, I think, is one of the reasons why to this day, he's so beloved and remembered. Right? Because he proves he can take this small, humble team to the next level. And that's exactly what he does.

[A]

And when I look at the record that Hersey assembled as this goalkeeper, it doesn't stop in the second division. He makes it to the first division. And at this point, what happens to him?

[B]

Life gets in the middle. No, I mean, I think the reality of Venezuela in that time is that many people like Jersey have to leave. So Jose is a soccer player, but he also suddenly becomes an immigrant, and he goes to Colombia to find better economic opportunities. To support his two daughters, to support his father, who needed a very expensive treatment for a glaucoma that he had to deal with. So in 2016, yes, he's 26 years old. He goes to Bogota, to Colombia. He finds money, and he keeps playing in Colombia because that love for soccer is always there. He kind of keeps in touch with this soccer club that sees him growing up, returns to that beautiful feel that the coach shows me on his phone. And so not only does does Jersey come back, but he starts coaching some of the very same kids that grew up in the same town that Jersey does. The coach is saying that every time Jersey would come back from Colombia, he would visit this soccer club and he would train the kids, and he would train some of the goalies. He would train the. The youth league. He had no ego. No. He sort of never forgot where he came from.

[A]

When you referenced that he is from a complicated Venezuela, explain what that means in terms of the decision that is made to go and help his family by leaving. How uncommon is a decision like that in the context we're describing?

[B]

I'll put it this way. The coach at one point tells me that when he looks at his team, he sees, in his words, that means that at one point he sees that most of his soccer players are gone, that he doesn't have enough soccer players to literally play games. And the reason why is because many of them have had to flee Venezuela, not to leave Venezuela. And the same reasons why Ndersi did, to get better opportunities and to find things elsewhere that they just couldn't find in Venezuela, to immigrate, to get out of the country.

[A]

And we're very much involved with the Venezuela crisis. It's a horrible thing, a horrible situation. It's been brewing for many years.

[B]

A country that for many years at this point has been in the midst of a political and economic crisis. Breaking news out of Venezuela, where the political and humanitarian crisis has reached a boiling point point.

[A]

So this football crisis in the context of the larger crisis then, of Venezuela. For people who are not familiar with the character of Maduro, how would you introduce him?

[B]

Nicolas Maduro is someone that many people in Venezuela and around the world would call a dictator.

[A]

President of Venezuela, Maduro, the now dictator. Dictator Maduro.

[B]

Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power because he's someone that continues the legacy of Hugo Chavez. Chavez has raised Nicolas Maduro to the seat of power since Chavez, but he's particularly known for his political repression. The idea of having civil liberties and rights and freedom of press does not exist in Venezuela on top of that. And I think this is when it becomes very real for people like Jerci and these soccer players.

[A]

You may remember that Venezuela is. Is a country in chaos right now. The economy has crashed, people can't afford food and medicine. Telling Venezuelans that humanitarian aid is part of a conspiracy to overthrow his government, all of which has left Venezuelans feeling so hopeless.

[B]

For the last seven plus years, there's been over 7 million people that have left Venezuela, that have migrated. And so I'll put it this way, many of the images that you may remember from those thousands of asylum seekers. Thousands of asylum seekers are still there, waiting and hoping in makeshift camps and shelters. Many of them were Venezuelans escaping the Nicolas Maduro regime.

[A]

We're talking about a guy in Maduro who, by the way, isn't a friend of Donald Trump.

[B]

Trump casts himself as an anti Maduro, anti socialist, anti communist American president. And so Nicolas Maduro is one of Donald Trump's biggest enemies. This is where Jersey's fleeing from. No, he's fleeing from Maduro.

[A]

And so to fit Hersey into this political matrix in which there's Trump and Maduro on opposite sides, where does he fit when it comes to how explicit his beliefs are about what's happening?

[B]

So Jersey did something that thousands of Venezuelans did. Dirci decides to take the streets. And it was really brave knowing that is that in February 2024 and in March 2024, he decides to protest against the Nicolas Maduro regime. And I say that's very brave because we're talking about a regime known for having political prisoners. So in the second demonstration that Desi participates in, things get really dark. From what we've been told, after one of these protests, he's taken to this clandestine building.

[A]

And what does it look like behind the scenes when that happens?

[B]

Allegedly, his treatment involved electric shocks and suffocation. So we've been told that Diersey was threatened by the Nicolas Maduro regime and that if he were ever to march again, that he would be, quote, disappeared and that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. And I've been told that Jersey was really worried that this could actually happen because it has been happening.

[A]

And so just to state as clearly as we can as well, what is, dare say, his criminal record, what's none.

[B]

Whatsoever, he has no criminal records in Venezuela.

[A]

So if he also has a clean sheet when it comes to his legal standing, I'm trying to imagine what the case would be against him. How does he Live his life. How, how out here is he when it comes to being reckless, even in a non criminal way?

[B]

I mean, the first thing that his family would say and that his sister says is that he's a good guy. Right? This is, we're talking about someone that doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke. He literally has a record of having countless jobs on the field, playing soccer, and his life was and is football. But like I said, there is no criminal record of Jersey in Venezuela. The only crime that he committed in the eyes of the government was protesting.

[A]

And so now I'm returning to that image of people trying to get the out. And I'm imagining the decision that Jersey is facing given that the man in power and his administration are seemingly allegedly not just electrocuting him, suffocating him, but now threatening him to never do anything like this again. And so what is the choice he has in front of him?

[B]

Yeah, so a little bit after March 2024, he kind of is faced with a decision that many migrants are faced with. Do you leave or do you stay? In his case, he's facing, of course, sort of this political repression in Venezuela. He's facing the reality of his parents, his dad that needs this glaucoma treatment. And he comes to the conclusion that he has to leave Venezuela and head towards the United States. Desi goes through the Darien jungle. Now remember, the Darien jungle is over 10 miles of one of the most dangerous places that I've been to in my life. He makes his way towards Mexico. Mexico also, from what I've been told by his sister, becomes a very, very dangerous place for gersing. There's thousands of asylum seekers like him that have to live in limbo. He then goes through the legal system to apply for asylum and to enter the United States. What does he do? He opens his CBP1 application, download the.

[C]

CBP1 app from the App Store or Google Play.

[B]

The app is free, right?

[A]

So he's downloaded the official app. This is how it worked. And this was under the Biden administration, by the way. This is just last year, the spring of last year.

[B]

It takes him approximately five months from when he leaves Venezuela until he enters the United states through the CBP1 application.

[A]

And so he gets not asylum, but an appointment to make his case that he is deserving of the refuge at the United States and is offering.

[B]

Exactly. So here comes September 1, 2024. Dercy presents himself at the border. He's permitted to enter legally immediately, but then he's placed inside an ICE detention Center in San Diego.

[A]

The waiting room is an ICE detention facility in San Diego.

[B]

That's right. Dirsey at this point, is waiting in limbo for months. He's waiting for his scheduled immigration hearing. And he's there for so long that by January 16, 2025, he actually spends his birthday inside this detention center. He turns 36 inside.

[A]

And that is a useful date for us because now tracking quite neatly alongside January of this year is the changeover in power from Joe Biden to Donald Trump. I will declare a national emergency at our southern border.

[B]

And so, as sort of Trump is rising, Jersey's inside this detention center waiting for this alleged immigration hearing to take place. Fast forward to March 14, 2025. Jersey's sister told us that she got a call from her brother to wish her a happy birthday. Well, the first thing she talks about is that she notices something different in Jersey's voice. That she notices that he's shaky and nervous and that he's not being himself. And then Jersey asked about one of his daughters, right?

[A]

His two kids.

[B]

He's able to talk to one of them. He says, what are you eating? And the daughter responds, I'm eating cheese, Daddy. I love you. Jersey says back to his daughter, I love you, too. And then he says, I don't have much time to talk. And that's the very last time that Jersey is able to talk to his family.

[A]

So, Paola, this is a story I just need to remind everybody that started and is conceivably about gangs. And we now know that Jerusalem has lost contact with his family. They haven't spoken to him. We are closer now to the present tense. And I just want to know where the are the gangs in this story that you've reported for us, because they have been noticeably absent so far for a reason.

[B]

Right? So the gangs are part of this story in a. In a very important way. Now, the reason why D disappears is because the Trump administration claims that that Real Madrid tattoo that you and I talked about at the beginning, that tattoo is what allegedly makes him a part of it. This morning, we're learning new details about the Venezuelan gang trend is arguably the.

[A]

Most ruthless, violent, menacing gang now designated as terrorists. So these are now terrorists. This accusation that he's a member of this gang, according to a declaration that I'm going to quote from here, is based on two things. First, he has a tattoo on his arm of a crown sitting atop a soccer ball with a rosary and the word Dios, which we began the show with. And the Department of Homeland Security alleges that this is proof of gang membership. This tattoo from hell.

[B]

Literally. This young man that has no criminal records in either Venezuela or the United States, that has never even set foot outside a detention center. Yes, in the United States. This man is now being accused of being part of El Trendar Agua because of this Real Madrid tattoo.

[A]

He's not the only person in the world of professional soccer who has this tattoo or something quite like it. No less than Neymar himself has a tattoo on his back, right calf. The third most popular athlete in the world, probably behind Ronaldo and Messi. You know, depending on how you put LeBron in there. I put Neymar on the medal stand. He has this Paola, look, there it is, right? Soccer ball with crown on top. Paolo Dybala, an Argentinian football superstar. Same tattoo, same. Here's a photo of that same place. Crown on top of ball. And we were trying on our staff Paola to figure out, like, what is the appropriate reference point. And I think we settled on this is kind of like getting a flaming basketball. It's just a thing you get because you're hot.

[B]

Yeah. Again, like, why do people get tattoos? Because they have passions.

[A]

And so at this point, I just need to jump in to emphasize something broader about not simply this particular sports themed tattoo, but also tattoos in general, as this marker, according to the federal government for membership in Trent, which is that this entire concept is bull. A leading criminology professor at the Central University of Venezuela recently told the New Yorker that this administration's tattoo strategy is, quote, the first time I've ever encountered any reference to the significance of tattoos as it regards trend, which is a gang, by the way, that this professor has spent his career studying. He then called the whole thing, quote, absurd and naive. Meanwhile, the author of the definitive book on Trender Agua happens to be a journalist named Rona Rizquez, and she spent her career investigating criminal groups across Venezuela. What you should know, according to her, is, quote, venezuelan gangs are not identified by tattoos. And yet this is Precisely, precisely how ICE, U.S. customs and Immigration Enforcement has been actively justifying the disappearance of people without criminal records. Again, like Jersey Reyes Barrios. And in fact, on the Texas state government's website, to also broaden the scope out here, we found a literal PowerPoint presentation with a slide entitled Trend Tattoos and other Identifiers, end quote. And right there in the top right corner, which you can see right now on YouTube, is the Jumpman logo. Yes, the Jumpman logo for, you know, Air Jordan with the number 23 beneath it, which, as I trust you can now understand, feels both irresponsible and actually insane.

[B]

If these soccer players and basketball players and sort of famous celebrities were not in the public eye, and if they were just like random black and brown men walking down the streets, potentially, from what we know of the legacy of ICE and previous presidential administrations, they would be racially profiled because of their tattoos.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And very likely could end up like Jersey. And I've seen this, I've reported on this in the past, racially profiling people because of these mundane tattoos with no evidence whatsoever to showcase that they are actually dangerous criminals.

[A]

That part that all it takes is one tattoo that is cross checked against some PowerPoint somewhere in which. Also on the list are roses, guns. God forbid, by the way, you're a train enthusiast. We got a locomotive smack dab in the middle here. It just makes me think of the strategic incompetence. If you are using this as sufficient evidence for declaring that someone like our goalie in this story is actually part of a terrorist organization.

[B]

It's lazy, it's cruel, it's racist.

[A]

Just. Just this quote, right? Like to go back to this legal document quote, DHS reviewed JRSA's social media posts and found a photo of Mr. Reyes Barrios making a hand gesture that they allege is proof of gang membership. And for those who are not watching on YouTube and are missing the visuals on this, can you describe the gesture he's making?

[B]

It's literally a rock and roll sign. A sign that has often been used in sign language to say, I love you.

[A]

And on Instagram, by the way, this guy's making all sorts. It's like peace signs, thumbs up, rock and roll gestures, all this stuff. You see all the kids on his youth soccer team there.

[B]

He's just a goofy guy. So I talked to his lawyer, actually to his lawyer, who spent a lot of time sort of dissecting this tattoo image and dissecting this hand gesture.

[C]

And the hand gesture, the hand gesture.

[B]

Is this one of her responses to the government was literally just like, check your emojis right? On your phone.

[C]

Emojis on your phone. But it didn't matter to dhs.

[A]

I have been wondering who is the person who is actually fighting for him against the US Government?

[C]

I'm Lynette Tobin, an immigration attorney and solo practitioner in San Diego.

[B]

And she's not just protecting Jesse at this point, but she's literally taking on the government.

[C]

I am one individual basically fighting against the government.

[B]

This is what she told me about the very last time she talked to.

[C]

Jerze, I got a call and learned from him that he was being transferred. He wasn't sure where. He just said he was being transferred. And then the next day he called me and he was in Texas this time instead of San Diego. Couldn't tell me what prison he was at. He didn't know. Simply Texas. His family was getting increasingly anxious. They had heard about these Venezuelans being sent to El Salvador. Of course, they didn't know for sure that he was there, but they knew he had tattoos and they knew he was Venezuelan. And they're used to hearing from him, if not daily, almost daily. And asked me to please find out if he was still in the US And I communicate with him through an app. And I checked that app and it showed that he was still at the prison. So I told them, no, he's still here, he's okay. But he wasn't. They simply never. DHS never removed him from the app. He's still on my app. As someone who is present in the U.S. at this point, Prison in Texas.

[B]

Tonight, the Trump administration sharing this dramatic video from the president of El Salvador showing alleged Venezuelan gang members arriving to his country overnight marching into prison.

[C]

Hersey's aunt sees a picture on the news of these men who are on their knees with their heads down and their heads being forcibly shaved.

[B]

The administration deporting hundreds of Venezuelans from the US that they accuse of being members of Trende Aragua despite a federal judge yesterday ordering the administration to temporarily cease deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

[C]

They see someone who looks like heresy, they get very worried. So finally I reach someone at ICE who confirms that he has been removed from the country. I give that news to the family and they. They sobbed. There has been a lot of crying.

[A]

It's the footage that has been posted on the social media account of the President of El Salvador Bukele, who has, for those not familiar with his work, has called himself the world's corporate coolest dictator.

[B]

He loves this, right? And so I think at this point, like, these are exactly the images that he wants people to see.

[A]

We're talking about a maximum security prison designed to hold and essentially banish terrorists from civilization.

[C]

It is the most maximum security prison in El Salvador. It can hold up to 40,000 prisoners. The prisoners are held in large cells of at least 80 people. In one cell, there are no windows. They never go outside. They aren't even taken out of the cell to eat. There are two open toilets that all of these men share. There is no privacy. They're constantly on camera and the lights are never turned off. They have nothing. They are simply in this cell 23 and a half hours a day and they do nothing. They just sit there. We do know that people at this prison are tortured. They're beaten, they aren't given medical attention. It's a very frightening circumstance.

[A]

And somewhere in this photo of these people being lined up in what is a de facto concentration camp, somewhere in there is, is, is the goalie we've been talking about.

[B]

Now what do you call that? Now what do you call this image? What do you call this transfer of Venezuelans from the United States to El Salvador? Do you call that deportation? Do you call that kidnapped?

[C]

I'm not going to call it a deportation because he does not have an order of deportation. They took these people, did not tell them where they were being taken, put them on a plane forcibly and sent them to a third country. These men have no connection with El Salvador. They have disappeared them. The government has refused to say where they're being held, even though we know where they're being held. They have no contact with their attorneys, no contact with their families. They can't receive letters, they can't receive their calls. Not even the International Red Cross has been able to see these people. They have been disappeared by our government.

[A]

It's the place that we saw also because Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went and took a photo op trip to pose in front of some of those bars and some of those men and then posted it, of course, on social.

[B]

Media here at seacot today and visiting this facility. If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face face. First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed and you will be prosecuted. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people. She says if you come to our country illegally, number one, Der didn't come illegally. No. She, he used a legal process. Number two. And they're making this assumption without any evidence that everyone that is standing behind her is part of or MS.13 and so this is for sure a show of strength from the Trump administration. But the, the biggest weakness is that in doing this, they have completely dismantled any democratic norm. Any sign of due process.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

That makes us who we're supposed to be. No. Which is a democracy. That's gone.

[A]

Right. The idea that if you suspect that this former professional soccer player, this father of two, this man is in Fact gang affiliated terrorist associated that you should go through the legal system and prove it as opposed to disappearing him. That's what the fight is right now, broadly speaking and in specific, that is the hell that this tattoo has brought.

[B]

Jerusaletu who would have known that this guy that grew up loving soccer, that became a soccer player, that wanted this real madri tattoo that left his country inspired by what the United States is supposed to mean. Yes, inspired by what Venezuela doesn't have, which is law and order, due process, freedoms, rights, basic liberties, protesting the dictator.

[A]

That is an enemy of the man in charge of our country who sent him to El Salvador to be under the watch of another dictator who would.

[B]

Have known that that person would have ended up in El Salvador.

[A]

So I should say, Paola, that we here at Palator finds out did get a quote from the Department of Homeland Security. They provided us with the following statement. Jer Reyes Barrios was not only in the United States illegally, but he has tattoos that are consistent with those indicating TDA trend gang membership. His own social media indicates he is a member of the vicious TDA gang. That all said DH intelligence assessments go beyond a single tattoo. And we are confident in our findings, end quote. And so naturally we had multiple detailed follow up questions about those assessments, about whether they were even talking about assessments of jrsay. In particular, we had questions about why the government is so confident about any of that, about any specifics that they might be able to offer us. And eventually Trisha McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, did get back to us in an email and she said this quote, no, I am not referring to Barrios specifically. Our intelligence goes beyond social media and tattoos, full stop. We aren't going to hand over our national security information and put law enforcement in harm's way every time a terrorist and gang member says they aren't one. That would be insane.

[B]

Unfortunately, there's, there's no surprise here. No. And I think watching this country turn into the Venezuelan almost that Jerci escaped is alarming.

[A]

And so at this point it is just worth me reiterating perhaps the defining aspect of the United States itself, which is that in a constitutional democracy like ours, people like Jersey Reyes Barrios are in fact allowed to see, say that they are not a terrorist and not a gang member and to in fact prove that in a court of law, which is why currently a federal judge in Washington is threatening to hold the Trump administration in contempt for preventing so many of these men from Venezuela who got swept away by our government on those planes in the middle of the night from making their case as to why they should not be kicked out. And meanwhile, back in San Diego today, actually exactly six months after that first appointment that Jerusay had, the one that got, you know, spat out by the government's free iPhone app so that he could legally and transparently make his original case to be let into this country, our country. Jerzay's lawyer is finally expecting something. She's expecting to hear from Jersey's personal immigration judge with a decision on whether to dismiss his claim to asylum, his claim to legal status officially, or to keep Jerusay's case open so that he can continue his request when and if he returns to the United States or even some other country. But no matter the official law of the land, no matter the due process here, the Trump administration is expected to push back. They're expected to brush aside that due process and the humanity involved in favor of dictatorship. And so, yes, it is certainly worth sounding some alarm. And it is also quite appropriate to be cynical about America today. But in Venezuela, something else is happening. Back on the pitch. And so as much as this is a story that isn't otherwise being told here in America, what's it like back home where Jerusay is from?

[B]

I mean, I think there's. There's two stories now. There's. There's a story of. Of pain that his family is feeling know his sister and his parents are waiting anxiously every single day to just know if their brother and their son is alive. Jersey's daughters are waiting. Jersey's partner is living in limbo right now in the US Mexico border, in Tapachulas and one of the most dangerous Mexican towns, also wondering if her partner is dead or alive. But then there's the. The flip side of the story, right, which is the essence of who this man is know. And that is the impact that he had in that soccer field years ago, the impact that he had training those kids, talking to those kids about this sport that has given them dreams and opportunities outside of Venezuela. If you walk through Dersy's hometown right now, you'll see a mural of him. If you go to his soccer team, to Perejanero fc, and the kids are talking about him. This kid, Alan Carvajal, he's a goalie in the youth team in the very same field again, where Jersey grew up. And his message is clear, having a tattoo is not a crime. And I think the part of the story is also understanding that any one of those kids and any one of these Kids that are now trying to be Jersey could end up like Jersey, where, you know, leaving this soccer team can end up taking you to a detention center mega prison in El Salvador.

[A]

It just occurs to me, Paola, that this is a lot for a bunch of 10 year olds to deal with, right? The idea that your athletic idol, whether it is Iker Casillas or Jerusale Reyes Barrios, would, would, would be gone somewhere, trapped in a nightmare of the United States and the dictator of El Salvador's creation. And so what are these team meetings like? What are, what's practice like now for this team?

[B]

Practice now ends with a prayer and practice ends with Jersey's name in people's minds. No, he's. He's remembered. Thank you for this day and also to our families. We ask that you help us and also members of the family, help Jersey, who was a great trainer for us, guide him wherever he is. Helps to free him, liberate him, so he's free wherever he is. Father, give him strength and courage and let him know that he is with us, the Venezuelans. Amen.

[A]

It's hard not to think of that, Paola, as the goalie's prayer, right? Praying for someone now to save him.

[B]

To save him. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's beautiful. Now that he remains alive in that field with them. Some somehow.

[A]

Yeah. Paolo Ramos, thank you so much for helping us tell this story.

[B]

Thank you for letting me do that. It really was a true honor.

[A]

This has been. PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT A MEADOWLARK Media Production and I'll talk to you next time. Sa.