Court turns down asylum plea by SoCal gang member
Associated Press - December 29, 2007 9:04 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An appeals court has rejected a plea for asylum by a Los Angeles-area gang member, who argued his tattoos would make him the target of rival gangsters in his native El Salvador.

Jean Pierre Arteaga - a legal immigrant who came to the U.S. with his parents at age 4 - 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 his home country.

But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Arteaga's argument, saying he could provide no evidence of his claims.

An immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals have also turned down his asylum request.
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