Latest news with #HernandezRomero
NBC News
5 days ago
- NBC News
Judge dismisses asylum case for gay makeup artist deported to Salvadorian prison
A judge has dismissed an asylum case for Andry Hernandez Romero, a gay makeup artist who was deported to a prison in El Salvador. Hernandez Romero was deported based on the government's contention that his tattoos linked him to a Venezuelan gang. NBC News' David Noriega has more on the decision. May 30, 2025
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Trump Administration Is Using Tattoos, Logos, and Clothes To Identify Supposed Gang Members
When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Venezuelan makeup artist Andry Hernandez Romero in 2024, it suspected he belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang. Yet ICE provided no "official records, media reports, and correspondence," "intelligence information received from other agencies," or "validation" or "confirmation" by "law enforcement, Corrections, or sending jurisdiction," to prove that Hernandez Romero was tied to the gang. Instead, ICE officials flagged Hernandez Romero as a potential Tren de Aragua associate based on two of his tattoos: the words mom and dad, topped with crowns, on each wrist. "The crown has been found to be an identifier for a Tren de Aragua gang member," noted ICE officials. The tattoos seem to be why Hernandez Romero was one of over 200 Venezuelans sent to a brutal Salvadoran prison on March 15. The Trump administration claimed they all had connections to Tren de Aragua, but some of the deportees' lawyers have questioned how the government reached that conclusion, blaming misinterpretations of their clients' tattoos for their imprisonment. The Trump administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in March to target Tren de Aragua, a group it claims has "perpetrated irregular warfare within" the United States. It relied on that law to conduct immediate deportations of over 100 people it deemed members of the gang, denying them due process, and evidently relying on shaky subjective criteria to decide whether someone should be deported. A March court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) revealed a document that the government is allegedly using "to determine whether Venezuelan noncitizens are members of Tren de Aragua and subject to summary removal under the Alien Enemies Act." The document notes that migrants who score eight points or higher on the checklist "are validated as members" of the gang and thus subject to arrest and removal. "Tattoos denoting membership/loyalty" to the gang is worth four points. Other listed identifiers include displaying certain logos, making certain hand signs, or wearing certain clothing. When The Independent's Andrew Feinberg asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt about the document, she said it's "not true" that tattoos and clothing alone could get someone classified as a Tren de Aragua member. "According to this document, it is," Feinberg countered. "Have you talked to the agents who have been putting their lives on the line to detain these foreign terrorists?" Leavitt shot back. "There is a litany of criteria that they use to ensure that these individuals qualify as foreign terrorists…..Shame on you and shame on the mainstream media for trying to cover for these individuals." Attorneys for some of the men sent to El Salvador have argued that American immigration officials misinterpreted their clients' tattoos before their deportation. One claimed that her client, Jerce Reyes Barrios, was accused of being a Tren de Aragua member in part because of his tattoo paying homage to the Real Madrid soccer team. Another argued that immigration officials flagged his client as having "gang-related tattoos," noting that his client's tattoos are of a rose, a clock, and a crown with his son's name. One attorney claimed that ICE falsely accused his client of gang membership because of a crown tattoo—"a tribute to his grandmother whose date of death appears at the base of the crown." It would be bad enough for the government to rely so heavily on such tenuous evidence in normal deportation proceedings. But the March removals to El Salvador weren't normal. Conducted under the Alien Enemies Act, they denied migrants the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge. "Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than what has happened here," charged D.C. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett. "They had hearing boards before they were removed." Even if Hernandez Romero posed a genuine risk to public safety or had demonstrable gang ties, he deserves a right to defend himself. But he "did not have the opportunity to contest the evidence submitted against him before he was forcibly removed," said his attorney, Paulina Reyes, in her sworn declaration to the court. If he and the other men singled out for their tattoos were truly safety risks and Tren de Aragua associates, then the government should have been willing and able to prove that in court. The shadowy, fast-tracked removal process the government adopted instead makes it all the more likely that it deported innocent people. The post The Trump Administration Is Using Tattoos, Logos, and Clothes To Identify Supposed Gang Members appeared first on
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.'
New York Post
23-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Alleged gangbanger deported to El Salvador was allowed into US using CBP One app under Biden — despite already being deported
An alleged gangbanger deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador's hellhole megaprison was previously booted from the US before the Biden regime ultimately let him in using the CBP One phone application, sources told The Post. Venezuelan migrant Andry Hernandez Romero, 31, was hauled off to El Salvador in March with a group of 260 other reputed gangbangers after President Trump invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to deport them without a hearing. He first made his way into the US by crossing the southern border into Texas in July 2024, but was quickly expelled before he showed up again the next month, according to sources. Advertisement 3 Hernandez Romero worked as a makeup artist for a Venezuelan state-run TV station. Facebook / Andry José Hernández Romero By August that year, Romero found his way to California, where he entered the US using the since-shuttered CBP One phone application program. The Trump administration shut down the CBP One entry function for migrants on Inauguration Day and later created the CBP Home app to give illegal migrants the option to self-deport from the US. Advertisement The Venezuelan citizen fled his home country after he was targeted for being gay and having certain political views, his attorneys said. He worked in Venezuela at the state-run TV station as a makeup artist for on-air talent, according to CBS News. 3 Salvadoran prison guards escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the MS-13 gang who were removed from the US. via REUTERS 'And the government had found that his threats against him were credible and that he had a real probability of winning an asylum claim,' Lindsay Toczylowski, Hernandez Romero's lawyer, said. A photographer who captured the moment Hernandez Romero was escorted into the megaprison in El Salvador reported hearing the migrant cry out, 'I'm not a gang member. I'm gay. I'm a stylist' as he was slapped and had his head shaved, according to CBS News. Advertisement 3 Hernandez Romero fled Venezuela due to persecution for being gay. Facebook / Andry José Hernández Romero 'It's horrifying to see someone who we've met and know as a sweet, funny artist in the most horrible conditions I could imagine,' Toczylowski said. Immigration agents tagged Hernandez Romero as an alleged Tren de Aragua gangbanger based on his two crown tattoos. But Toczylowski claimed that the tattoos honored his parents. Advertisement 'These are tattoos that not only have a plausible explanation because he is someone who worked in the beauty pageant industry, but also the crowns themself were on top of the names of his parents,' Toczylowski said. 'The most plausible explanation for that is that his mom and dad are his king and queen.' However, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed that the agency's 'intelligence assessments go well beyond just gang affiliate tattoos.' 'This man's own social media indicates he is a member of Tren de Aragua. Alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia was also shipped off to the South American country with Hernandez Romero. Several federal courts, including the Supreme Court, determined that the Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia as a result of a 'clerical error' and ordered the White House to return him to the US. But the Trump administration has thus far refused to bring Abrego Garcia — who has been tagged as an alleged human trafficker, wife beater and gangbanger — back.
Axios
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Report: Most migrants sent to mega-prison have no apparent criminal record
Three-fourths of the Venezuelan migrants flown from Texas to a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador three weeks ago had no apparent criminal record, a CBS News 60 Minutes report out Sunday found. Why it matters: The lack of evidence of a criminal record is consistent with many other immigrant removals under the Trump administration so far and poses serious questions over the deportations to El Salvador, as a judge ordered at least one man returned. The big picture: The migrants were removed after President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 last month to accelerate mass deportations of Venezuelan migrants suspected of being gang members. Civil liberties groups have attacked the move since the deportations came with little to no due process, arguing that the United States is not at war and, therefore, unjustified in its use of the 18th-century wartime law. By the numbers: The CBS News 60 Minutes report found that 75% of 238 migrants sent to the Salvadoran mega-prison known as the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) had no traces of a criminal record. At least 22% of the men on the list have criminal records here in the United States or abroad, but the vast majority are for non-violent offenses like theft, shoplifting and trespassing, the 60 Minutes review found. Only a dozen are accused of murder, rape, assault and kidnapping. It is unclear whether a criminal record exists for about 3% of those deported. CBS News obtained the names of the migrants through internal government documents and reviewed their pasts. Zoom in: Andry Hernandez Romero, a gay makeup artist who came to the United States last year in search of asylum, was among those deported, 60 Minutes found. Photos taken by Time magazine photographer Philip Holsinger show Hernandez Romero at CECOT. Holsinger said he heard a young man say, "I'm not a gang member. I'm gay. I'm a stylist." The young man cried for his mother as he was slapped and had his head shaved, Holsing said. Hernandez Romero's crown tattoos, which included the names of his parents, were also visible in the photos taken of him by Holsinger. Those tattoos — crowns — were the only evidence U.S. immigration officials presented in court to accuse him of being part of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang. A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman told 60 Minutes that many of those without criminal records "are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters, and more. They just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S." Border Czar Tom Homan said immigration agents spent hours conducting rigorous checks on each of the men to confirm they are members of Tren de Aragua. Yes, but: A Salvadorian national living in Maryland legally was wrongly deported to El Salvador, the Department of Justice admitted in court papers filed last week. Juan Abrego Garcia was stopped on March 12 by immigration agents who wrongly told him that his status had changed. He was questioned about gang affiliation and transferred to a Texas detention center before being taken to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the U.S. to bring back Abrego Garcia from the Salvadoran prison by midnight Monday. The bottom line: The 60 Minutes report confirms what many families of deported migrants have claimed: that the U.S. wrongly deported their loved ones to CECOT and misinterpreted tattoos.
