American Obscenity

Maybe you’ve already heard the story of Jerce Reyes Barrios, a Venezuelan soccer player arrested and tortured by the Maduro regime. Barrios fled to the United States following his imprisonment for demonstrating against the Maduro regime. His asylum hearing was scheduled for next month. He has no criminal record.

On March 15, 2025, Barrios was arrested and deported to El Salvador, where he is currently being held, accused of involvement with the Tren de Aragua street gang, despite their being no evidence linking him to that gang. The allegation of his gang affiliation appears to arise from a tattoo. The tattoo in question is an adaptation of the Real Madrid Soccer Club logo. Barrios is almost certainly innocent of whatever charges the government levied against him.

Worse, in a statement I first saw on Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From an American Substack, an ICE official wrote, “The lack of criminal record does not indicate they pose a limited threat. In fact, based upon their association with TdA, the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose. It demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”

In other words, the lack of evidence against individuals like Barrios is actually proof of their guilt. At this point, it’s become a cliché to invoke George Orwell, but I wonder whether the Orwell estate can sue for plagiarism.

There will be other stories like this. And here’s the thing: I don’t care.

I don’t care because it doesn’t matter whether Barrios is a gang member or not. Nor does it matter if any of the other 260 deported to El Salvador are gang members. What matters is that these people were denied due process. It’s not up to Marco Rubio to determine, based on vibes, who is a “terrorist,” a word that, like, “freedom” has now lost all meaning. It’s not up to Tom Homan or Pam Bondi or Donald Trump or any of the other galaxy brains currently defenestrating the nation. That determination belongs to a judge.

Each one of those 260 immigrants deserves due process. Each of them deserves their day in court. Each of them deserves humane treatment, access to family, and, if accused of crimes, counsel. The fact that I even have to write these words is an absurdity to me. Or maybe a better word is “obscenity.” Because that’s what this is, obscene, a word that derives from the Latin, obsscaenus, which means “ill-omened” or “abominable.” The abomination is obvious. The omen only slightly less so.

In that same Heather Cox Richardson Substack, Richardson quotes Steve Bannon. On his podcast, Bannon defended the Trump administration’s rough “justice,” saying, “I think they got everybody who was a bad guy, but guess what? If there's some innocent gardeners in there? Hey, tough break for a swell guy. That's where we stand.”

Tough break for a swell guy? Bannon wasn’t talking about Barrios, but he might as well have been. A professional soccer player tortured in his home country, who did everything correctly when applying for asylum, who followed the rules, who is now in a prison which has no outdoor recreation facilities and no family visits? A prison in which the world’s “coolest dictator” has vowed to house gang members for the rest of their lives? Barrios is 25.

How many Jerce Barrios are among that group of 260? How are we to know unless each of them is afforded due process? Is immigration in this country such a big problem that we are willing to toss American jurisprudence away like so much used wrapping paper?

The stories are now coming fast and furious. A soccer player. A Canadian marketing executive. A German tourist. A French researcher. There will be more stories like these. At the moment, it’s immigrants or those only visiting the country, so maybe you feel protected. If that’s the case, I suggest you consult your crystal ball. The omens aren’t difficult to read. This new American obscenity is right out in the open.