Lawmakers pressure Trump to provide evidence that Venezue…

By Charlie Sawyer

Published Jun 13, 2025 at 12:28 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

Images courtesy of Instagram

After being detained for six months during his battle for legal entry to the US, Andry Hernández Romero was awaiting his asylum hearing when he was deported to CECOT, a mega prison in El Salvador.

68236

Members of the public and lawmakers are currently demanding information regarding the deportation of asylum-seeker Andry Hernández Romero. A hairdresser by trade, Hernández Romero had fled his home country of Venezuela in 2024 and was seeking safety in the US after facing threats and discrimination for being gay. Despite there being no legitimate evidence that Hernández Romero posed a threat to US security, the Trump administration sent the 31-year-old to CECOT, El Salvador’s notorious maximum security prison.

According to Pink News, Robert Garcia, a California Congressman and strong critic of Trump’s fascist approach to immigration policies, has led a coalition of Democrats to put pressure on the State department to provide proof that Hernández Romero is still alive.

A letter, which was officially signed by 52 lawmakers on Monday 9 June 2025, called on the government to “conduct a wellness check on Mr Hernández Romero, facilitate his access to legal counsel and immediately facilitate his release.”

After being detained for six months during his battle for legal entry to the US, Hernández Romero was awaiting his asylum hearing when he was deported to CECOT—pinned by the Trump administration as a member of the notorious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. The openly gay make-up artist and hair dresser did not have a criminal record and was identified as having gang affiliations solely due to certain distinguishable tattoos.

Specifically, as reported by The Guardian, Hernández Romero was singled out by immigration enforcement due to the two crowns he had tattooed on his wrists. “Detainee Hernandez ports [sic] tattooed ‘crowns’ that are consistent with those of a Tren de Aragua member,” an agent at California’s Otay Mesa detention centre claimed.

However, family members have tried to explain that these tattoos actually symbolise commemoration for the annual Three Kings Day celebrations that take place in Hernández Romero’s hometown.

Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, told crowds who had gathered on 6 June to demonstrate in support of Hernández Romero: “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. We believe at this moment that he sits in a torture prison, a gulag in El Salvador. 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.”

“Andry is not alone. He is one of more than 235 men who disappeared and were 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 where officials in El Salvador have bragged that people only live in a coffin,” she continued.

Pressure regarding Hernández Romero’s status mounted after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem refused to discuss the 31-year-old’s status. Garcia, persistent in attempting to force an answer out of Noem, stated: “You and the president have the ability to check that Andry is alive and not being harmed. Would you commit to at least looking and asking El Salvador if he is alive?”

Noem, evidently unphased, answered: “This is a question that is best asked to the president and the government of El Salvador.” The video is available to watch on X.

There is no update on Hernández Romero’s wellbeing or safety at this current time.