Latest news with #Andry
Kuwait Times
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
Venezuelan migrants in tearful reunions after US deportation
CAPACHO: Hugs, tears, and cheers greeted makeup artist Andry Hernandez on a joyous return home to the Venezuelan Andes on Wednesday—ending a months-long ordeal involving US deportation, a notorious El Salvador jail, and alleged sexual abuse. The 33-year-old was one of 252 Venezuelan migrants swept up in US President Donald Trump's immigration dragnet and sent without trial to El Salvador last March. Hernandez has spent the last four months incommunicado at El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang. He and the rest of the men were returned to Venezuela on Friday as part of an exchange for 10 US citizens and permanent residents who were held in Venezuela. As Hernandez drove into his tiny hometown of Capacho, on the rugged southwestern border with Colombia, he was met by elated family members, who for months knew nothing of his fate. A small crowd chanted 'Andry, Andry, Andry,' as he jumped out of the vehicle and embraced his overjoyed parents, who were sobbing with relief. Hernandez had left for the United States in 2024, hoping for a better life free of the discrimination faced by Venezuela's LGBTQ community. 'I left my home with a suitcase full of dreams, with dreams of helping my people, of helping my family,' he told reporters. Instead, Hernandez said he got 'a nightmare that I thought would never end.' US authorities had claimed that the crown tattoos on his wrists were 'evidence' he belonged to Tren de Aragua, something that Hernandez and his family fervently denied. 'Thank you for all the love you have for me and for showing me that I was never alone, that I was never alone in that maximum-security prison,' he said. His case was closely followed by international human rights organizations. Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab released a video in which Hernandez said he had been sexually abused by CECOT prison guards. 'Every night I prayed' The tearful homecoming was echoed in villages and towns across Venezuela on Wednesday, as the former CECOT detainees returned home after days in the capital, Caracas. In the working-class neighborhood of Maracaibo, a throng of people gave thanks for the return of four friends released from El Salvador. Edwuar Hernandez, Ringo Rincon, Andy Perozo, and Mervin Yamarte were welcomed with waving flags, spraying foam, and blowing horns. With his arms outstretched and his eyes lifted to the sky, Yamarte thanked God for his freedom. 'Thank you, Father God,' he whispered through tears, standing beside his former prison companions. A tearful Hernandez recalled the pain of his ordeal. 'I thought I was never going to get out of there,' he said. The relief of his mother Yarelis was palpable. 'Every night I prayed to God that he would give me at least a glimpse of him in my dreams,' she said, adding that 'the days went on forever.' 'I don't wish it on any mother.'—AFP
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds rallying at Supreme Court demand Trump return disappeared gay asylum-seeker Andry Hernández Romero
In front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday, about 300 people gathered to demand the return of someone the U.S. government erased. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. Andry Hernández Romero — a 31-year-old gay Venezuelan asylum-seeker, actor, and makeup artist — fled to the United States legally in 2024 to escape homophobic persecution. He passed a credible fear interview and was preparing for his asylum hearing. But before that hearing could take place, the Trump administration deported him under a 2025 executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act — a law from 1798 once used to imprison Japanese Americans during WWII. Related: Rachel Maddow sees Americans' active resistance as key to overcoming Donald Trump's strongman game Hernández Romero was sent to CECOT, El Salvador's notorious mega-prison, accused of gang affiliation based on two crown tattoos above the names of his mother and father. His attorneys say he had no criminal history. Immigration authorities never gave him a chance to respond. He was last seen in chains, crying out, 'I'm gay. I'm a stylist.' Since that day, there has been no proof of life. 'Andry is a son, a brother. He's an actor, a makeup artist. He is a gay man who fled Venezuela because it was not safe for him to live as his authentic self,' Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which is representing Hernández Romero, told the crowd. 'He's a dedicated member of a theater troupe that he has been in since he was seven years old… someone who put nothing but beauty and light into this world.' Related: 'We believe at this moment that he sits in a torture prison, a gulag in El Salvador,' she continued. 'We say 'believe' because we have not had any proof of life for him since the day he was put on a U.S. government-funded plane, forcibly disappeared.' HRC national press secretary Brandon Wolf, Immigrant Defenders Law Center executive director Lindsay Toczylowski, HRC senior VP Jonathan Lovitz and Crooked Media co-founder Jon Lovett speak at the U.S. Supreme Wiggins for The Advocate 'Andry is not alone,' she added. 'He is one of more than 235 men who were disappeared and rendered to CECOT with no due process… Many of them, like Andry, were in the middle of their asylum cases. They were denied their day in court. In an attempt to erase their very existence, they were sent to suffer in a prison that officials in El Salvador have bragged that people only leave in a coffin.' Jon Lovett, the Crooked Media co-founder and Pod Save America host, warned the crowd that the deportation program isn't over — and its logic is meant to desensitize the public. 'They're going to try to say it proves whatever bullshit they've been saying,' Lovett said, referring to the administration's claim, despite an order from the U.S. Supreme Court to return him, that deportees were out of the federal government reach. On Friday, the administration returned Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. from El Salvador to face criminal charges that his attorney says are dubious. Related: 'What that tells us is two things. One, it means the pressure matters. They can pretend they're immune to politics and democracy — they are not. That's one. And two: they can send people back at any time they want. They can bring Andry back anytime they fucking want," Lovett said. He blasted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for refusing to confirm whether Hernández Romero is alive. 'Kristi Noem, a mother, is asked to give proof of life. That's it. Proof of life that Andry, this innocent person who'd only touched the immigration system because he followed the rules, is alive — and she wouldn't do it.' Gay California U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia pleaded with Noem during a recent House hearing, during which she refused to acknowledge the concern about Hernández Romero. Sarah Longwell, the lesbian publisher of The Bulwark and a former longtime Republican political strategist, said the outrage many former conservatives feel over Hernández Romero's disappearance is rooted in values their party abandoned. 'The Republican Party that we grew up in understood that immigrants added tremendous value to our country,' she said. 'Ronald Reagan used to say… 'if you had freedom in your heart and you wanted to follow our laws, anybody can come to America from anywhere and become an American.'' Related: Kristi Noem won't say if gay asylum-seeker deported to El Salvador's 'hellhole' prison is still alive 'But the other thing we were raised on as young conservatives was fidelity to the Constitution,' she added. 'It was a belief in the rule of law and due process and equal treatment… And so what I want from us… is to remind Republicans that they're Americans first… and that the values this country was founded on, they still have to abide by.' Supporters gather at the U.S. Supreme Court in suport of the "Free Andry" movmement. Christopher Wiggins for The Advocate 'That's what we do when we don't forget about people like Andry,' Longwell said. 'They know it's wrong. And we should never let them forget what they're doing.' Tim Miller, her colleague at The Bulwark, issued a blunt indictment. 'We did this to Andry — not some crooked cop or some corporation or some foreign country. We did it,' he said. 'And so it is up to us to get him back.' He described scrolling through Hernández Romero's Instagram. 'It's a fucking tough scroll, to be honest, thinking about this nightmare that we put him through. But there's one caption that he wrote on one story. He said this: 'Always give more than what's expected of you because 80 percent of success is simply persistence. So, do not be afraid of failure. Be afraid of not trying.'' 'Donald Trump wants to dehumanize these folks,' Miller said. 'He wants to say that they are vermin, that they're thugs, that they're bringing fentanyl into the country, and he wants people to not care about them… but he's wrong about that.' Related: Longwell, Lovett, and Miller joined forces to host a joint The Bulwark and Crooked Media fundraising event and podcast taping on Friday evening at the Lincoln Theatre in D.C. to support the Immigrant Defenders Law Center in its fight for the rights of wrongfully deported Venezuelans, such as Hernández Romero. Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat who was the first gay person of color elected to Congress, invoked his family's own forced removal. 'The Alien Enemies Act was once used, along with other evil laws, to imprison my own parents and grandparents during World War II,' he said. 'Their only crime being Japanese American. No charges, no trial, just locked up and stripped of their dignity. And the trauma didn't end when the war did. It echoed through my family for generations.' Related: 'Now we see it happening again,' Takano said. 'The same fear, the same injustice, repackaged and rebranded, but just as cruel.' The Bulwark's Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell speak at the U.S. Supreme Court rally for Andry Wiggins for The Advocate He called Hernández Romero's deportation 'scapegoating,' not safety. 'Let's be crystal clear,' he said. 'We must repeal the Alien Enemies Act… because none of us gets to sit this out.' Jonathan Lovitz, the Human Rights Campaign's new senior vice president for campaigns and communications, delivered one of the rally's most impassioned speeches — honoring Hernández Romero while indicting the system that disappeared him. 'He's a vibrant soul who made the world beautiful just by being in it,' Lovitz said. 'You heard that in 2024, he fled Venezuela — not for opportunity, not for handouts — for survival. He was beaten, he was abused, and he was targeted for being an outspoken gay man. That was his crime.' Related: Lovitz condemned the weaponization of bureaucracy: 'No hearing, no justice — just vanished. That is cruelty. That is cowardice. And it is the product of a broken and weaponized system, one that treats human dignity like a paperwork error.' 'Our Constitution does not say due process only for citizens,' he added. 'It does not say only for the lucky. And it certainly does not say only for the white, the straight, and the tattoo-free. It says that all people — all people — deserve justice.' But in front of the Court, the message was simpler: Bring Andry home. 'If Andry isn't safe,' Lovitz said, 'none of us are. Not immigrants, not asylum-seekers, not gay or trans people, not any of us.' And as the chants of 'Free Andry' swept through the crowd, Lovitz's final words rang out: 'These colors don't run.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
He left Venezuela for the US, dreaming of a career in cosmetics. He was deported to a Salvadoran prison
A year ago, Andry José Hernández Romero left Venezuela to seek a better future in the United States. 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.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Free Andry Live Show & Fundraiser
We're joining forces with Crooked Media's Jon Lovett on June 6 for a live show in D.C. to raise funds for Andry Hernandez Romero. We'll be joined on stage by special guests to celebrate Pride, vent, pre-game, commiserate, laugh, vent some more, and raise money for the , which represents Andry and others being held in El Salvador without so much as a hearing. Because if this administration can kidnap Andry and ship him off to a foreign gulag—if they get away with that and the media just moves on—they can do it to anyone. Tickets and More Info Here Can't make the show? You can support efforts to free Andry and other wrongly imprisoned immigrants at Want to get more involved? Join Vote Save America, the Human Rights Campaign and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center for a protest in support of Andry José Hernández Romero. This is an opportunity for WorldPride attendees, DMV area residents, and the entire LGBTQ+ community to rally around Andry as we demand his return! Action for Andry
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LGBT+ community outraged after gay makeup artist with no criminal history is deported to mega-prison in El Salvador
The Trump administration's deportation of a gay asylum seeker to a brutal Salvadoran prison has outraged LGBT+ communities rallying for his return. Makeup artist Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, 31, fled Venezuela for California in 2024, fearing persecution under Nicolas Maduro's regime and has no criminal history or gang ties, according to his family and attorneys. He lawfully entered California with an appointment through the CBP One app but was swiftly transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which labeled him a security risk because of his tattoos. He was among dozens of Venezuelan immigrants accused of being Tren de Aragua members and deported to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center on March 15. A coalition of California-based LGBT+ advocacy groups is pressing Donald Trump's administration for his safe return. Officials and activists joined protests in Los Angeles on Wednesday, demanding urgent government action. 'Andry came to this country believing in the promise of safety and dignity,' Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner said. 'Instead, he was met with detention, dehumanization, and ultimately, deportation.' His removal to El Salvador's brutal prison 'has cut him off from contact with others and has resulted in him being deprived of all human rights,' Hollendoner added. 'Without intervention, Andry's deportation is effectively a death sentence.' Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT+ civil rights group, said in a statement that Hernandez Romero 'deserves safety and freedom from violence — all LGBTQ+ asylum seekers do.' 'Instead, he has been thrown into a dangerous prison — without due process — at the hands of a cruel administration committed to pushing our communities out of public life,' she added. 'We firmly join our partners in demanding justice for Andry.' Hernandez Romero is now the lead plaintiff in an amended lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union seeking to revive a legal challenge in a Washington, D.C. courtroom against the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport alleged Tren de Aragua gang members. The lawsuit demands the court's intervention 'to restrain these summary removals, and to determine that this use of the [Alien Enemies Act] is unlawful and must be halted,' and to declare the imprisonment of immigrants in El Salvador unconstitutional. A CBS photojournalist who recently captured images inside CECOT witnessed a man with a shaved head crying out for help. The man, identified as Hernandez Romero, cried out 'I'm innocent' and 'I'm gay,' according to photojournalist Philip Holsinger. Hernandez Romero faced 'constant discrimination' for his identity while working as a makeup artist for a government-sponsored news network in Venezuela, according to a sworn statement in court documents from Immigrant Defenders Law Center managing attorney Paulina Reyes, who represented him in his removal proceedings. Employers were forced to produce content supporting the Maduro regime. Hernandez Romero refused, 'and the producers at his government-sponsored station attacked him and threatened to further harm him if he did not comply,' according to Reyes. Armed groups supporting Maduro started to follow and threaten him, she said, and he quit the network and went into hiding. On August 29, 2024, he presented himself at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after making an appointment with the CBP One app. He passed the credible fear interview and entered full immigration court proceedings, but he was questioned about his tattoo and transferred to ICE custody. He has a crown tattoo on each arm with the words 'mom' and 'dad' below them. A sworn statement from his mother in court documents says he also has tattoos honoring a hometown festival celebrating the Three Wise Men, which he has participated in since he was a seven-year-old child. 'Most of the members of that theatre troupe also have crown tattoos and like to promote this event,' she wrote. 'He also worked with beauty pageants and often posted photos with pageant crowns as props. This is who he is — an artist, not a criminal.' ICE relies on an 'Alien Enemies Act Validation Guide' to decide whether Venezuelans are members of a gang the Trump administration has labelled a terrorist organization. The guide uses a scorecard with points assigned to certain characteristics. It takes eight points to declare whether someone is a member of Tren de Aragua, though officers have wide discretion to make those referrals. Tattoos alone are four points. 'On initial interview detainee Hernandez stated that he was not a member of any gang. Upon conducting a review of detainee Hernandez's tattoos it was found that detainee Hernandez has a crown on each one of his wrist. The crown has been found to be an identifier for a Tren de Aragua gang member,' according to ICE's intake form submitted in court documents. 'There is no evidence to believe that he is affiliated in any way with Tren de Aragua and Andry has consistently refuted those claims,' Reyes wrote. 'He fled Venezuela due to persecution for his political opinion and his sexual orientation and his tattoos have an obvious explanation that has nothing to do with a gang.' Hernandez Romero's attorney filed an asylum application on his behalf in December. He was abruptly moved to a detention facility in Texas in March despite his ongoing immigration proceedings in California, where he was scheduled to have a hearing on March 17. He was deported to El Salvador two days earlier on March 15. Hernandez Romero's mother says she is 'deeply worried' about her son's safety. 'Andry is a kind, humble, hard-working person,' she wrote. 'I am terrified for my son's safety. I have read about the prison in El Salvador, where the government is sending people without a hearing. I do not know how he is being treated, what conditions he is in, or even if he is alive. As a gay man and someone falsely accused of gang activity, I fear that he is in danger every day.'
