Olga wants to cover his tattoo. Do not regret having done it, but now I would prefer not to have it. He is Venezuelan, is 20 years old and lives in Texas. The brand on the skin makes her feel insecure, she has it on one arm, just above the elbow. This is the acronym RHLM, which mean “real to death.” The phrase is from the Boricua reggaeton Anuel AA, one of the most popular of the genre. It is the title of his first album and a motto that repeats in his songs. He himself takes her tattooed in the neck. She did it after seeing it in person during her last concert in Texas last year. But that is the story of Olga, the history of the Trump administration is that this design is among the tattoos that identify the members of the Venezuelan gang the Aragua train. If an officer discovers his tattoo, the young woman could be arrested.
As if that were not enough, Anuel AA was one of the artists who publicly supported Donald Trump in his last campaign. “He is the best president that the world has seen,” he said at a rally in Pennsylvania last August. There, he said Trump’s intention was to help Latinos in the United States. Now his slogan has become a problem for Olga and for many other emigrants who have tattooed him for the admiration they feel towards the artist. In the list of “suspicious” tattoos are designs such as a train, a star, a crown, a clock, or the Air Jordan brand logo.
Olga knows Venezuelans who have been arrested for their tattoos. One day he didn’t know more about them and presumes that they are in prison or that they have been deported, although she doesn’t know. “I did it because I like that singer a lot. I’ve always been a fan of him. If I said ‘the chicks say pío’, I would have tattooed it,” he says. “Anyway, now it is better that I will do something else. I don’t care what nobody finds out that I am ‘real until death.”
According to several tattoors consulted by the country in Texas, more and more people come to cover tattoos with new overlapping designs that hide those they had. Julio is a Cuban tattoo artist with five years of experience. He started on the island and in Texas he entered the business little by little, until he became known in the world. However, he prefers not to publicize his real name, because he has no legal documents. “The business has not been affected. I have not seen so much a concern based on meanings, but they want to cover old tattoos because they give the impression that they are wrong or that they are gangs.” According to his experience, “most want to cover stars, crosses and numbers.”
“The real phrase until death ‘asked me once and I refused. I don’t like doing such things, but that phrase is something cultural. I don’t think there is any related crime. They usually tattoo Spanish -speaking teenagers,” says Julio. He also adds that almost all designs that appear on the list are quite usual.
Manuel Fernández is a 27 -year -old Cuban artist. He has seven tattooing and works on a study called Flow Ink Tatoo, in Houston, Texas. He assures that the business has not resentful in recent weeks, and has even increased with the clientele that wants to “cover things related to the tattoos of the list.” He has attended two cases of this type. The last one was a man who asked for an AK-47 rifle, which is one of the designs indicated.
Manuel does not know anyone who has had migratory problems for being tattooed, but believes that the government is being very strict “with something that everyone has and will continue to have.” “The truth is that I have seen concern in a few clients. Most continue to tattoo and do not care. Also because the difference between a tattoo is done professionally and one done with a criminal purpose.”
Keon Ostby, an American artist who has his study in Phoenix, Arizona, also criticizes that the tattoos of the list are designs that many people are made, and that there is no way of knowing whether or not they are related to a criminal group. “Using tattoos as proof for deportation is nonsense. None of the images of the list incites hate, and they are very common designs. If we were not allowed to tattoo these designs, many normal citizens, respectful of the law and taxpayers could not be tattooed,” he says.
If someone asks for a train or a crown, Ostby would not have problems in doing it: “I just refuse to make swastika, symbols of the Aria Brotherhood or others related to gangs or hate groups. But the tattoos of the list are not harmful at all. I would like the list to stop using and that people stop trying to connect the tattoos with their personal beliefs. Assume the reason for a tattoo.
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