Tattoos: New Ground of Inadmissibility?

Miriam Jones writes in the Wall STreet Journal:

December, Hector Villalobos traveled from Colorado to his native Mexico for an interview, part of his application for U.S. permanent residency. Mr. Villalobos expected to be gone a couple of months to complete the process.

Seven months later, U.S. consular officers haven’t allowed the 37-year-old handyman to return home to his wife and three children. The problem: tattoos—some associated with violent Mexican gangs—on Mr. Villalobos’s body.

“He likes tattoos, just like many Americans like tattoos” said Veronica, his American wife of six years, who says her husband isn’t affiliated with any criminal organization. Mr. Villalobos says he got his tattoos—some in Mexico, some in the U.S.—because he thought they were cool.

In recent years, immigration attorneys say, concern about foreign gangs entering the U.S. has prompted Washington to delay or deny green cards, or legal permanent residency, to some applicants with tattoos. Read more…

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