He left Venezuela for the US, dreaming of a career in cosmetics. He was deported to a Salvadoran prison
He wanted to continue growing his career as a makeup artist. He left behind his lifelong home in the little town of Capacho Nuevo, where he lived with his mother, father, and younger brother.
On May 23, 2024 – just two days after his 31st birthday – Andry left with the hope of one day opening a beauty salon in the US, or making a living from one of his other passions: design and tailoring. But all that hope has turned to anguish.
The Venezuelan makeup artist made it to the US, but his journey became 'tragic,' his mother, Alexis Romero, told CNN. Andry is one of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who were deported by the US government to El Salvador in March. His loved ones have had no news of him; they are completely out of touch.
As of now, there is no certainty about what will happen to him or the rest of the detainees in the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) prison.
'Please bring him back, it's been two months of anguish. We can't take it anymore. Please, put your hand on your heart and send him back. This anguish is eating us alive … I hope these people say, 'Yes, he's coming back.' That they say something, anything, just a little thing,' pleads Alexis, 65.
Andry Hernández Romero turned 32 this Wednesday. He is from Capacho Nuevo, a town in the Venezuelan border state of Táchira that, according to official estimates, has fewer than 30,000 inhabitants. He is passionate about design, makeup, costume making, and acting. These artistic skills have made him well known in his hometown, where he has been an essential part of a local festival.
Since he was 7, Hernández has participated as an actor in the 'Reyes Magos de Capacho' festival, which a few months ago celebrated its 108th anniversary and is a keystone cultural event in both Táchira and all of Venezuela.
'We're from a small town, but we all know each other,' Reina Cárdenas, 36, and a childhood friend of Hernández, told CNN. 'We became very good friends since we were little kids. He loved to do my makeup, loved to get me ready for the show. We shared many things, many interests. Besides the Reyes Magos festival, we'd go out to eat, we were confidants, we have a very nice friendship.'
In his teens and adult life, Hernández continued acting in the festival and also started making costumes and doing makeup for cast members. He studied Industrial Engineering up to the fifth semester at the Santiago Mariño Polytechnic in San Cristóbal, a private university in Táchira. Tuition increased every month, so 'the work bug bit him' and he decided to drop out to focus on his career, his mother says.
Up until then, he had spent his whole life in Capacho, except for some trips to Bogotá, Colombia, and Caracas for work. And then came his trip to the US to seek asylum and grow professionally, a trip from which he has not yet returned.
Hernández has been far from home and out of contact for months in El Salvador's Cecot after being deported by the US government for alleged links to the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua, accusations his loved ones deny.
Andry Hernández Romero arrived in the US on August 29, 2024, specifically at the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico, after leaving Venezuela a year earlier, according to Alexis Romero and Reina Cárdenas.
'He showed up for his CBP One appointment on August 29 and from that moment he was detained in a migration center' in the US, says Cárdenas.
The CBP One app, which was crucial for hundreds of thousands of immigrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry, was canceled last January by the Trump administration, which also canceled already scheduled appointments.
Reina says that, from the moment he arrived – still during the Biden administration – Andry was linked to the Tren de Aragua because of his tattoos: a crown on each wrist and a snake on his forearm. His is not the only case in which US authorities have associated these tattoos with the Venezuelan criminal gang.
When that happened, 'we started sending all the evidence they asked for' to prove otherwise and so Andry could continue his asylum application, adds his childhood friend.
'They had nothing against him, no evidence,' says Reina Cárdenas. 'We submitted everything they requested at the time for the investigation they were conducting, because from the moment he entered the country they linked him to the Tren de Aragua and it was only because of the tattoos. They had no other reason, never submitted any evidence, just the tattoos.'
Despite the circumstances, Cárdenas says Andry's case was progressing favorably, according to their conversations with him while he was detained and with his legal defense.
'His asylum process, up to the last we saw, was favorable,' Reina says. 'He passed the credible fear test. Everything was going very well. There were times when he wanted to be deported because of the time he'd spent locked up, and the lawyers and the judge handling his asylum told him his case was going well and to be patient, that he'd be admitted at any moment.'
While Hernández's immigration case was ongoing, Trump's second term began, along with a massive government campaign against illegal immigration. Last March, after more than half a year detained since arriving at San Ysidro, the young man was deported to El Salvador.
Andry Hernández is one of hundreds of migrants who in mid-March were deported to Cecot – the mega-prison built by El Salvador to incarcerate 'the worst of the worst,' according to the country's president, Nayib Bukele – under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime policy invoked by the Trump administration to expel alleged members of the Tren de Aragua.
The US government moved quickly to send hundreds of migrants, including Venezuelans, on flights to El Salvador, where they remain to this day, completely out of reach.
The 32-year-old Venezuelan migrant is part of a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration. The suit argues that invoking the Alien Enemies Act is illegal and violates the constitutional due process rights of the immigrants involved.
'That invocation is patently unlawful: It violates the statutory terms of the (Alien Enemies Act); unlawfully bypasses the (Immigration and Naturalization Act); and infringes on noncitizens' constitutional right to Due Process under the Fifth Amendment,' the lawsuit states.
Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) handling the case, said the goal is for both Andry Hernández and the other Venezuelans in Cecot to have a fair process in the US.
'We filed this lawsuit because we know there are more than a hundred Venezuelans who were illegally sent to a brutal Salvadoran prison without ever having the chance to defend themselves. Our goal is to get all of them back to the US so they can have fair hearings,' Gelernt said in a statement sent to CNN by email.
The ACLU attorney also says they have not been able to communicate with any migrants in Cecot, so Andry Hernández and the other detainees have been unable to contact their families and loved ones for more than two months.
In May, the US Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump's government resuming deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. The decision was a significant defeat for the president, who wants to use the law to speed up deportations and avoid the usual required reviews. However, it is a temporary measure, and the legal battle over the president's invocation has continued in various courts.
Federal courts in Texas, Nevada, Colorado, and other states have issued orders blocking the use of the law, at least in the short term, while judges consider a series of lawsuits filed by targeted immigrants. Several courts have also issued more permanent orders, and a Trump-appointed judge in southern Texas ruled on May 2 that the president had illegally invoked the Alien Enemies Act.
The family of this Venezuelan say the tattoos that led to him being labeled a member of the Tren de Aragua have nothing to do with a gang and, rather, refer to the traditional Reyes Magos festival in his town. The crowns on his wrists are related to the Reyes Magos and are accompanied by the names of his mother and father, while the snake on his forearm refers to one of the roles he has played in the festival, says Reina Cárdenas.
CNN asked the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about Andry's case and, without mentioning him directly, the agency said its intelligence assessments go beyond tattoos and social media reviews, without giving further details.
'DHS intelligence assessments go well beyond just gang affiliate tattoos and social media,' a senior DHS spokesperson told CNN in a statement sent by email. 'Tren De Aragua is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth. They rape, maim, and murder for sport. President Trump and Secretary (of Homeland Security) Kristi Noem will not allow criminal gangs to terrorize American citizens. We are confident in our law enforcement's intelligence. We aren't going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one. That would be insane.'
Cárdenas and Romero say that Andry's social media also does not prove the allegations that he is a member of the Tren de Aragua. On his Instagram profile, whose first post dates to 2015, there are hundreds of photos of his work as a makeup artist and costume designer.
Both shared multiple documents with CNN to prove Andry's innocence. Among them are a certificate of good conduct from the mayor of Nuevo Capacho, a certification stating he has no criminal record, and a petition from the Reyes Magos Foundation of Capacho – which organizes the festival and has watched Andry grow up – and the community at large to corroborate that Andry is 'a hardworking citizen from a good family with no criminal record, innocent and unjustly detained in El Salvador.' This petition has been signed by around 600 people.
His friend and mother say the young man chose to seek asylum in the US because of problems he had while working as a makeup artist at a Venezuelan government-affiliated TV network. They say he suffered harassment for being openly gay and had difficulties for political reasons.
In a statement that is part of the evidence in the class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration, Alexis stated that her son 'was persecuted both for his sexual orientation and for his refusal to promote government propaganda' while working as a makeup artist at the TV network in Caracas. CNN asked the Venezuelan government about this accusation but has not received a response.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has previously spoken about the case of Venezuelans detained in El Salvador, calling the situation a kidnapping.
'I swear to you that we will rescue the 253 Venezuelans kidnapped in El Salvador, in concentration camps, as seen today,' Maduro said earlier this month during an event after the first video of the detainees at CECOT was released.
'Let's demand that those young people who are kidnapped without trial, without the right to (appear before) a judge, without the right to defense, without having committed any crime, be released immediately. And we are ready to go get them on a Venezuelan plane and bring them back to their families,' the South American leader added.
In March, El Salvador agreed with the US to admit up to 300 immigrants sent by the Trump administration to be detained at Cecot after the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, an unprecedented move. El Salvador would receive about $6 million from the US for taking in detainees at that prison, according to a renewable agreement between the two governments.
In April, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele proposed to Maduro the exchange of people deported to his country and imprisoned in exchange for what he considers 'political prisoners' of the Venezuelan government. Maduro responded by demanding that lawyers and family members be allowed access.
Meanwhile, in the US, pressure continues for the release of Hernández and all detainees at Cecot. Margaret Cargioli, attorney at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center and legal adviser to Andry Hernández, said in early May that 'due process matters' and that they will not stop until everyone is brought back to the US.
'One of the greatest forms of torture imposed by Cecot is isolating people from their loved ones: no visits, no contact, no communication,' Cargioli said at a joint event of advocacy groups and politicians. 'For more than 50 days, Andry has been isolated from the outside world without due process. But due process matters. Immigrants matter. LGBTQ rights matter. Andry and all the missing men in El Salvador matter, and we won't stop until we bring them back .'
For his part, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Democratic state senator from New York, commented that what Andry and the other detainees are going through goes against American values.
'It is un-American to deport residents of this country without any kind of due process, and even more so to subject them to the conditions of a foreign prison without oversight or safety guarantees. Yet that is exactly what happened to Andry Hernández Romero, and hundreds of others, who were sent to the notoriously dangerous Cecot prison in El Salvador,' Hoylman-Sigal said at the event.
'Mr. Hernández Romero came to this country, as people have since its founding, in search of a better life after being persecuted for his sexuality in his home country, Venezuela. Today, New Yorkers gather to show our support for Mr. Hernández Romero, demand that he and all those unjustly deported by the Trump administration be brought home immediately, and call on New York City and the United States as a whole to remain the welcoming refuge for those in need that it once was,' he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
30 minutes ago
- New York Post
Young men shifting to political right has caused women to distrust dating apps — says Atlantic writer
Young men's shift to the political right has complicated the dating world and led to distrust by women of dating apps, according to The Atlantic writer Faith Hill, who appeared on CNN on Thursday. Hill argued that women's growing distrust of dating apps stems from men — young men in particular — becoming more conservative while young women are becoming more progressive, leading to the sexes 'growing further apart in a lot of ways.' 'You see that young men are moving further to the right, young women growing more progressive. And I think, for a lot of women in particular, it can just sort of feel like, 'This is not a time where I trust men — I feel respected by men. I don't necessarily want to go out and meet strangers who are men,'' Hill said. According to The Atlantic writer, this social phenomenon is happening during a time when the Trump administration is seen as 'stripping away reproductive rights and protections against gender discrimination,' which is making women more conscious of their prospective partners' political beliefs. 'And you can see in surveys that there is this kind of resentment among a lot of men, kind of a backlash to 'Me Too,' a backlash to women gaining financial independence, going to college more than men now, where, you know, among Gen Z even, far more women who identify as feminists than men,' she noted. The Atlantic writer Faith Hill said that young men who are shifting towards more conservative views have led to women distrusting dating apps. Hill contended that there is a 'real feeling' among women that the 'larger political backdrop is seeping into individual relationships,' which is making it much more difficult to trust others. Later on in the discussion, Hill brought up the idea of 'heteropessimism,' which is a social phenomenon in which heterosexual individuals become disaffected by the prospect of being in a relationship with someone of the opposite sex. 'You hear a lot of people talk about this idea of heteropessimism today, which I think just gets at this idea that a lot of people, a lot of women particularly, are fed up with the way that they're being treated by men on these apps and with this kind of backdrop of hearing about how few men would call themselves feminists or the kind of whole 'manosphere' of resentful single men becoming this kind of cultural force that is, like, swaying elections,' she argued. Hill claims that the rise in young men being more conservative, and young women being more progressive, has led the sexes 'growing further apart in a lot of ways.' FOX News Hill was asked by CNN's Audie Cornish whether she felt that people like themselves talking about how bad dating has gotten is exacerbating the problem and making dating feel hopeless. 'I worry about that, I do. And I think that there's so much of a narrative these days about how bad dating is … about women's sort of valid fears about what could go wrong, like, I don't want to give readers the idea, or listeners, the idea that it's always going to be bad — they always need to be distrustful,' she said. 'But I also think there's a reason this narrative exists. People are picking up on something and, you know, people want to feel like that is heard, like they're not crazy.'
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Forty-day Target boycott leader seeks changes of ‘substance'
Forty-day Target boycott leader seeks changes of 'substance' CNN Senior National Correspondent Ryan Young speaks to Atlanta-area megachurch pastor Rev. Jamal Bryant, who earlier this year led a boycott of Target stores for the forty-day Christian season of Lent. Bryant says the retailer's reversal of DEI policies is a "stark betrayal" of its Black customers, and simply replacing the CEO is not enough. 03:14 - Source: CNN Vertical Top News 11 videos Forty-day Target boycott leader seeks changes of 'substance' CNN Senior National Correspondent Ryan Young speaks to Atlanta-area megachurch pastor Rev. Jamal Bryant, who earlier this year led a boycott of Target stores for the forty-day Christian season of Lent. Bryant says the retailer's reversal of DEI policies is a "stark betrayal" of its Black customers, and simply replacing the CEO is not enough. 03:14 - Source: CNN Newsom's message after CA approves redistricting plan Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) spoke to reporters after California Democrats passed a trio of redistricting bills, a day after Republicans in the Texas House passed new maps of their own. 01:34 - Source: CNN Active shooter hoaxes target two universities In separate incidents, Villanova University and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga were each targeted by reports of an active shooter on campus, both of which turned out to be a hoax. 00:47 - Source: CNN Hiker describes moment he was rescued after 6 days CNN's Anderson Cooper speaks with Alec Luhn, a hiker who was rescued after 6 days with little food and water on a remote mountaintop in Norway. 01:45 - Source: CNN This 75-year-old is on trial for a 2014 murder. The victim was her son-in-law 75-year-old Donna Adelson is facing murder charges in the death of her former son-in-law, Florida State University law professor Dan Markel, who was killed by two hit men in 2014. CNN's Jean Casarez reports on the details that led to Adelson's arrest and trial, where she is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder-for-hire plot. 02:08 - Source: CNN Lil Nas X arrested for battery of a police officer Grammy-winning artist Lil Nas X has been arrested for battery of a police officer. He was found early Thursday morning in Studio City on Ventura Boulevard and charged at officers, according to a public information officer with the LAPD. 00:39 - Source: CNN Israel approves plan to 'erase' Palestinian state Israel has given final approval to expand a massive settlement project known as E1, that will effectively slice the occupied West Bank in half. It's been widely condemned by countries such as Britain, Canada and France, calling it a "flagrant violation of international law" and an end to the idea of a Palestinian state. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. CNN's Nic Robertson visits Palestinian communities who would be forcibly displaced by the plan and explains why it is so controversial. 02:17 - Source: CNN Spectral bats form 'cuddle balls' and like to hug A new study found the world's largest carnivorous bat is more social than previously thought. Commonly known as greater false vampire bats, this rare species was observed hunting and playing together and even appeared to hug family members as a form of greeting. 00:45 - Source: CNN NY appeals court voids nearly $500m penalty against Trump A New York appeals court has thrown out the roughly half-billion dollar judgment against President Donald Trump in the civil fraud case brought by the state's attorney general. CNN's Elie Honig reports. 01:25 - Source: CNN Panic in Milan airport as man sets fire to check-in desk A 28-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday after setting fire to a check in counter at Milan's Malpensa Airport, causing significant damage and injuring at least one person, police say. The man was tackled by airport police, and is facing charges of aggravated damage to public property. 00:43 - Source: CNN
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The U.S. May Experience Negative Net Migration For The First Time In 50 Years. Here's What That Means For The Economy.
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. It was just a year ago when immigrants were entering the country in droves. The narrative has quickly shifted, and the White House recently featured a CNN report on its site touting that the country is on track toward negative net migration for the first time in at least 50 years. CNN Politics Senior Analyst Harry Enten said it's possible that we see a 2.8 million year-over-year negative net migration when it's all said and done. President Donald Trump campaigned on a tight border and has delivered on that promise, but this dramatic shift will affect the economy. It's not all good, but it's not all bad, either. These are some of the realistic ways negative net migration will affect the economy. Don't Miss: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. A Shrinking Workforce Removing able-bodied workers from an economy will reduce the workforce and reduce economic output. Fewer people in the workforce result in fewer products being produced and fewer services being fulfilled. However, not everyone loses from a shrinking workforce. Fewer workers give the remaining workers more leverage, which can translate into wage growth. Businesses will have to pay higher prices for workers, which can be a boon for people who feel like their salaries haven't kept up with inflation. Continuing to bring in new migrants would put downward pressure on wages due to a higher supply of workers. Some businesses may raise prices since they have to pay higher labor costs, contributing to inflation in the process. American workers should see nominal wage growth due to negative net migration, but real, inflation-adjusted wages show whether these changes will be a net benefit or setback for the typical worker's purchasing power. Trending: Kevin O'Leary Says Real Estate's Been a Smart Bet for 200 Years — Uncertainty Around Housing Costs The U.S. Census Bureau's population clock shows that there are approximately 342 million people in the country. A negative net migration of 2.8 million individuals represents a 0.1% decrease in the population. Any population decrease will reduce housing costs since fewer people are trying to buy and rent the same number of housing units. For instance, Japan housing prices have been dropping in tandem with its population decline, according to Business Insider. Negative net migration isn't the only way to address housing costs, but it can have an unintended effect. In this case, it won't be life-changing for Americans who want to become homeowners. Although housing demand decreases as populations decline, negative net migration may increase construction costs. The construction companies that hired illegal immigrants will have to turn to more expensive American workers, who will suddenly have more leverage in negotiations. Undocumented workers tend to have lower wages, according to Econofact, so American workers represent higher costs for companies. It's exactly what Trump and his advocates envisioned, but more American workers in construction may come with higher construction costs, which can lead to higher housing prices. Can negative net migrations and higher wages for Americans offset rising construction costs? We will have to wait and Taxpayers Governments rely on tax revenue to fund social programs and other initiatives for the country's welfare. When illegal immigrants are forced out of the country, it reduces the number of taxpayers. For instance, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The same report said that they paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes. However, a negative net migration may not be detrimental to social programs like Social Security. While the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report indicates that illegal immigrants contributed $25.7 billion to the program in 2022, Social Security collected more than $1 trillion that year. That means the contribution from illegal immigrants was less than 2.5%. Fewer undocumented immigrants also lets social programs allocate more of their existing time and resources toward U.S. citizens. The impacts of negative net migration – positive or negative – ultimately depend on who ends up leaving the country. Getting rid of productive workers will hurt the economy, but advocates for deportation claim that taxpayer funds went toward housing illegal immigrants. This rationale asserts that the savings from no longer having to house illegal immigrants can offset losses in productivity. Negative net migration isn't a clear positive or negative for the economy. There are meaningful pros and cons to the approach, and its impact on the economy and Americans will become more apparent over time. Read Next: , which provides access to a pool of short-term loans backed by residential real estate with just a $100 minimum. Image: Shutterstock This article The U.S. May Experience Negative Net Migration For The First Time In 50 Years. Here's What That Means For The Economy. originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
