Kilmar Abrego Garcia alleges he was arrested in 2019 and accused of affiliation with the notorious MS-13 gang based on two pieces of evidence.
First: a tip from an unidentified informant that Abrego Garcia vehemently denied.
Second: the fact he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie.
That wasn’t enough evidence to detain or charge Abrego Garcia, according to a petition filed last month. Later that year, he married his wife and gained protected legal status.
But nearly six years later, the sparse facts of that arrest were enough for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain Abrego Garcia. On March 15, the Maryland father of three was deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador, where he remains today.
The Trump administration since has said Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.” The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the administration must “facilitate” his return to the U.S., but neither party has established a clear timeline or plan to achieve that goal.
Abrego Garcia’s case illustrates ICE’s expanded ability to profile individuals for gang affiliation based on their clothing and tattoos. According to his petition, authorities utilized a “Gang Field Interview Sheet” to tally potential identifiers ahead of his 2019 arrest. When this document was presented to ICE, the only physical traits listed were his Bulls hat and sweatshirt.
This is not an anomaly. For years, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has internally labeled sports merchandise featuring the Bulls and Michael Jordan as a possible indicator of a connection to a variety of gangs, including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
As the Trump administration increases pressure for mass deportations, these profiling measures could be used at a higher rate — including a current wave of contested deportations of Venezuelan men.
Internal identifiers
An American Civil Liberties Union legal filing last week revealed a checklist the Department of Homeland Security used to validate deportations of Venezuelan men under the Alien Enemies Act. The document listed Bulls and Jordan apparel as one of only three physical identifiers for field agents to detain and potentially deport young Venezuelan men.
This finding was made public in an exhibit filed in J.G.G. v. Trump, a lawsuit by the ACLU that challenges President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to expedite mass deportations.
An estimated 130 Venezuelans have been deported to the high-security prison in El Salvador over the past month based on alleged connections to Tren de Aragua, an organized crime group in Venezuela. The Trump administration justified the deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, a piece of legislation from 1798 that previously was used as defense for Japanese internment camps during World War II.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that Venezuelans labeled as “alien enemies” must be allowed to challenge their deportations before being removed from the country, but attempted deportations will begin again this week after the court lifted a temporary block.
The connection with Jordan jerseys, Nike Jordan Brand shoes and Bulls merchandise is included in a filing that ACLU attorney Oscar Sarabia Roman submitted last week as part of an attempt to earn the preliminary injunction to prevent deportations under the act.
The document — which appears to have come directly from the Homeland Security field office in Chicago — lists traits by which field agents are expected to locate and identify potential Tren de Aragua members who could qualify for deportation.
The guide specifies that agents should look for men between ages 18 and 25 who “favor the Chicago Bulls basketball jersey, specifically Michael Jordan jerseys with the number ‘23’ and Jordan ‘Jump Man’ footwear/sneakers.” A tattoo featuring the Jordan logo over the numeral 23 was included alongside seven pictures of other tattoo “identifiers” such as clocks, crowns and AK-47 rifles.
The only two other physical profiling identifiers listed were a preference for “high-end urban street wear” and jerseys featuring Venezuelan athletes.
The Bulls organization declined to comment on the document or any statements by the Trump administration linking Bulls or Jordan apparel to deportations.
The document doesn’t specify whether agents have been empowered to detain individuals based solely on these physical characteristics. However, a separate document suggests some of the identifiers — including tattoos and clothing — could serve as a basis for issuing warrants for deportations.
Labeled as an “Alien Enemy Validation Guide,” this second exhibit provides a points-based system to determine if an individual can be “validated as a member of Tren de Aragua.” If an individual scores eight or more points, agents are told to issue a warrant for removal under the Alien Enemies Act.
The first three points are mandatory: An individual must be a noncitizen of the U.S. who is over 14 years old and originally a citizen of Venezuela. Anyone who doesn’t fulfill those traits won’t qualify for further examination.
Any individuals who do fulfill those three traits are then assessed by a list of factors, including self-admission, criminal conduct and communications. An officer can award four points if a person “has tattoos denoting membership/loyalty to TDA” and another four points if a “subject displays insignia, logos, notations, drawings or dress known to indicate allegiance to TDA.”
The exhibit doesn’t specify which tattoos and clothing would be considered to “indicate allegiance” to Tren de Aragua. And the ACLU is uncertain whether those identifiers would mirror those detailed in the other exhibit, which would include Bulls and Jordan apparel.
Defining legality
The Department of Homeland Security has reiterated the same statement in defense of the recent wave of deportations.
“DHS has thorough intelligence assessments to determine if an individual is a member of one of these vicious gangs,” the statement read. “These terrorists are a threat to national security and the safety of Americans. The premise that these individuals are not gang members is based on faulty assumptions.”
But with at least one documented case of a wrongful deportation, the statement doesn’t fully articulate the reality of DHS and ICE directives in the early months of the Trump administration.
As immigration lawyers and advocates grapple with the recent wave of removals, these identifiers raise two questions: Can a deportation be authorized simply due to an individual’s tattoos or clothing? And could that apply to Chicagoans wearing Jordan jerseys or sporting tattoos of their favorite team?
Establishing the legitimacy of identifiers is a key element of disputing a deportation warrant, according to Andres Diaz, an immigration lawyer with The Resurrection Project.
“Tattoos are not an unequivocal way of establishing that someone is a gang member,” Diaz said. “You may have someone that has a lot of tattoos and is in no way affiliated with any gang. Or you may have a gang member that does not have any tattoos or anything that is apparent. Sometimes people get tattoos because they think it’s cool or they’re a fan of the team.”
The Bulls are a global brand, instantly recognizable all over the world. Earlier this year the franchise was listed as the NBA’s fourth-most valuable at $5.8 billion, according to a CNBC report.
In 2022, sports retailer Lids said the Bulls sold the most gear of any NBA team during the previous offseason. Jordan’s jersey is the top-selling piece of merchandise in league history. And Jordan Brand shoes are among the most ubiquitous in the sneaker industry, with 60 million pairs produced in 2022, according to Nike.
But despite their popularity, authorities said these pieces of merchandise will continue to be labeled as potential indicators of gang affiliation — even in Chicago, where the footprint of the 1990s Bulls is impossible to escape.
Diaz advises that noncitizens, migrants and others fearful of potential investigation refrain from wearing or displaying any iconography that DHS has defined as an “identifier” — which would include Bulls and Jordan jerseys, clothing and tattoos in addition to Jordan Brand shoes.
After Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, all Venezuelans accused of connection to Tren de Aragua will get an opportunity to defend themselves in court before deportation. But the path to due process for those already removed from the country — including Abrego Garcia — remains uncertain.
Chicago Tribune’s Laura Rodríguez Presa contributed.
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