• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Court Rejects Asylum Plea For Tattooed Gang Member

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Dec 30, 2007 8:00 am US/Eastern

Court Rejects Asylum Plea For Tattooed Gang Member

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― A Los Angeles man who claimed his gang tattoos would get him tortured in El Salvador has lost a bid to avoid deportation.

An appeals court has rejected a plea for asylum by Jean Arteaga.

Arteaga came to this country when he was four years old but was ordered deported because of several felony convictions.

He asked to be granted humanitarian refugee status because of fears the gang tattoos that cover much of his body would mark him for persecution and possibly torture by rival gang members in El Salvador.

Gangs tattoos are often used to identify membership to allies, but outside the group's domain, rivals view the branded members as threats.

But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said he couldn't provide evidence to back up the claim. 

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

© MMIX, CBS Corporation. All rights reserved.