President Donald Trump is doubling down on his claims that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador despite court orders, is affiliated with the MS13 gang. He shared a photograph of the man’s hand tattoos online, but experts say it appears to have been digitally altered. Others point that tattoos do not constitute proof of gang affiliation.

In late March, Abrego Garcia was deported to CECOT, a mega-prison in El Salvador. As Blavity reported, he moved to the U.S. to flee gang violence and had been living in Maryland under legal status with his American wife and their child.

Although the Trump administration admitted to his deportation as an “administrative error,” the president has made repeated claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS13 gang. He has also refused to bring him back to the U.S. despite an unanimous Supreme Court order.

Donald Trump doubles down on unverified claims that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a gang member

Trump shared a photograph of Abrego Garcia’s tattooed knuckles on his Truth Social platform on April 18. His hand allegedly includes a tattoo on each finger, including a marijuana leaf, a smiley face with the letter X for eyes, a cross and a skull. The photograph also shows the letters “M”, “S”, “1”, and a “3” above each tattoo in small printed typeface. 

“That was photoshopped,” Terry Moran of ABC News told Trump during an April 29 interview, according to Al Jazeera.

“Terry, do you want me to show you the picture?” Trump insisted. “He had M, S as clear as you can be. Not interpreted.”

Trump added that Abrego Garcia’s tattoos were used as evidence to deport him.

Are Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s alleged MS13 tattoos real? 

The MS13 tattoos do not appear on recent photographs of Abrego Garcia, including a family photograph shared by immigration advocates, as well as one shared by Salvadoran government officials on April 17, according to Al Jazeera. 

Some experts have cast doubt as to whether the tattoos are real and if the photograph shared by Trump was digitally altered. 

Experts say Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s tattoos do not display allegiance to MS13

Abrego Garcia has no record of being involved in a gang. His alleged MS13 tattoos are also not used by current gang members, according to Maya Barak, an associate professor of criminal justice studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, as well as insiders.

“As with other gang subcultures in the U.S., MS-13 gang culture has been somewhat commodified and become part of popular culture,” she told CBS News.

Symbols and tattoos are “notoriously difficult to interpret,” Roberto Lovato, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, added.