Venezuela’s mother says

In the bad area of ​​the Venezuelan city of Marak, the mother of 24-year-old Francis Jose Garcia Kasik waited for him on Saturday.

18 months have passed since he moved to the US to start a new life, but he told her that he had been deported back to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital for illegally in the United States. They talked that morning before he had to go.

“I thought it was a good sign that he was deported (Caracas),” Mirelis Kasik Lopez reminded. She deeply missed her son as he left the house.

But he never arrived. And while watching a television report on Sunday, Ms. Kasik was shocked when he saw her son, not in the US or Venezuela, and in 1430 km (2300 km) in Salvador.

The footage shows 238 Venezuelans sent by the US authorities to the center of terrorism, or Sycot, notorious mega-tour. She saw men with shaved heads and shackles in her arms and legs, and was forced to arm heavily.

Ms Kasik told the BBC that she was confident that her son was among the detainees.

“It’s him. It is him,” she said, pointing to the picture on which he sits, bowed to his head, on the prison floor, on her hand, tattooly. “I recognize his features.”

While the official name list will not be released yet, the family is convinced that Mr. Garcia is one of the Venezuelans deported to the Supermax Salvadoran jail, even when the US judge has blocked the removal. They also claim that he is innocent.

Trump’s administration states that all deported are members of the Taragua Traga gang, which is at the White House intersection. A powerful multinational criminal group, which Trump recently announced a foreign terrorist organization, is accused of trading sex, drug smuggling and murder both at home and in major US cities.

US immigration officials said the detainees were “thoroughly checked” and confirmed as members of the gang before heading for Salvador. They said they used the evidence collected during the observation, meetings with police or testimonies to hold them.

“Our task is to send terrorists before anyone else is raped or killed,” said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Wednesday.

Many of the deported do not criminal to the US, however, in court documents, the official immigration and customs service (ICE).

Those who have criminal record include migrants with arrest on charges, ranging from the murder, the Fentonil trade and the abduction of the housing and the brothel management, which deals with gangs, Trump’s administration reports.

In the case of D -Garcia, his mother disputes that her son participated in criminal activity. She left Venezuela in 2019, first in Peru, seeking new opportunities, because blocking economic, political and social crises, she covered the country, she said. He illegally transferred to the United States in September 2023.

His mother did not see him personally in six years.

“He does not belong to either a criminal gang or in the US, or in Venezuela … He is not a criminal,” said Ms. Kasik. “What he was a hairdresser.”

“Unfortunately, he has tattoos,” she added, made sure that roses and names of family members who decorate his body led to his detention and deportation. This is how she and other members recognized him from the images released in Salvador.

Several other families said they believed that the deported were mistaken as members of the Tren de Aragua gang from their tattoos.

“This is him,” the sailor said with a tear, referring to the image from the prison. “I would like it not him … He didn’t deserve it to be transferred there.”

Mervin Yamart’s mother, 29, also identified her son in the video.

“I rushed to the floor, saying that God could not do it to my Son,” she said the BBC from her house in the Los -Skardora Maraca, Venezuela.

Like Ms. Kasik, she denies her son participated in the gang. He left his hometown and drove to the US through the gap Darien, crossing his three friends in 2023: 23 Edwar Erera; Andy Javier Peroz, 30; and Ringo Rinkon, 39.

The BBC talked to their families and friends, who said they noticed four men on the frame, and they were all in the Salvador prison.

Mr. Yamart’s mother said her son worked at a flatbread factory, sometimes working with a 12-hour shift. On Sundays, he played football with his friends.

“He is a good, noble young man. There is a mistake,” she said.

President Trump has addressed the long -standing law, the law on aliens of 1798 to deport men without a proper process in the US, saying they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

Despite the assurances of the US government that the deportees were carefully checked, the move had a cold impact on many Venezuelans and Venezuell-Americans in the United States who are afraid that the use of Trump’s law may cause more Venezuelans and quickly deported without any charges and criminal records.

“Of course, we are afraid. We are horrified,” said Adelis Feru, the executive director of the Venezuelan-American Caul, a propaganda group. “We want every TDA member to pay for their crimes. But we don’t know what criteria are.”

“They (Venezoulans) live in uncertain times,” she said. “They do not know what decisions are made – even people with documents have been here for years.”

Ms. Ferro’s concern was responded to Brian de La Vega, a well-known immigration lawyer in Venezuela, and a military veteran veterans.

Many of his customers are in the Miami area, including Doral, a suburb that sometimes takes into account the nickname “Doraralzuela” for their large Venezuelan population.

“Most of the Venezuelans in the US are trying to do everything right. They are afraid to return to their home country,” said Mr. De -la -Vega in the BBC. “For me, the main problem is how they identify these members. The standard is very low.”

Many Venezuelan expatriates in the United States – especially South Florida – are generally supported by Trump, which has taken a tough position on the left -wing government of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, which many have fled.

But in February, Trump’s administration stopped temporary protective status – TPS – for Venezuelans who defended many from deportation. The program officially ends on April 7 and can affect almost 350,000 Venezuelan citizens living in the United States.

“Trump’s speeches have always been strong about the Venezuelan regime, especially during the campaign,” said Mr. De -wa Vega. “I don’t think people were waiting for it.”

Daniel Compo, born in Venezuela, naturalized US citizen in Pennsylvania – and an avid Trump supporter – said the BBC that he remains unwavering in support of the president, he has some concerns deportations in Salvador and at the end of TPS.

“I certainly hope that when they make raids to deport the Treel de Aragua, especially in the Salvador jail, they will be very careful,” he said.

Among those who were surprised by the end of the TPS, and the recent deportation-25-year-old Venezuelan man who asked to be identified only as Ilber, who arrived in the US in 2022 after a long, dangerous journey through Central America and Mexico.

He is now in the US – but uncertain about what’s next.

“I left Venezuela out of repression and uncertainty. There were gangs in my area in Caracas,” he said. “Now I don’t know what will happen here.”

Additional Bernd Debusman -Young Report in Washington