The Trump administration’s immigration rules seem to spare none! Andry José Hernández Romero, a 31-year-old gay makeup artist, hairstylist, and theatre enthusiast from the Venezuelan Andes, was among 251 Venezuelan men deported from Texas to El Salvador’s maximum security Cecot prison under Trump’s infamous crackdown.
Having fled Venezuela to claim asylum in the U.S. last August, Hernández was held at a detention center where his case was evaluated. He was then sent back under a prisoner swap agreement between the US and Venezuelan governments.
Despite being initially deemed eligible for asylum due to persecution based on his sexuality, Hernández Romero was removed under questionable claims that his tattoos were associated with the Tren de Aragua gang. He and 251 others were secretly transferred to CECOT in March, one of the scariest prisons in the world. (via Guardian).
Romero’s deportation caused massive outrage as the people of the LGBTQ community and Democrats were angry with the Trump administration. Now, the homosexual artist has raised his voice in an interview with The Bulwark‘s Tim Miller.“I really have no words to thank you for all the love you have shown me,” he told Miller.
As per LGBTQ Nation, Romero said, “I thought I was being deported to Venezuela,” he recalled. “But it was all a lie. They did it on a Saturday, when courts were closed. I didn’t know where we were going until I saw the flag after we landed.”
Once inside the prison, he was overwhelmed by fear. “People said no one leaves this place alive.” He clung to faith: “There wasn’t a single day we didn’t pray. Holding onto God helped us survive.” Meanwhile, the talented artist claimed that he’s been doing makeup, theatre, and beauty pageants for years, and he has no connection with any gang or its members.
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Hernández described the trauma of detention to Tim Miller and said, “There was physical and se-ual abuse. It’s difficult to speak about, but my lawyers are preparing to take action. It was total exile.” Yet he also remembered the deep bonds formed behind bars. “We entered as 252 strangers and left as brothers. We shared something unthinkable.”
Hernández said that he knew his s-xual orientation would become a problem and make others in the detention centre uncomfortable, hence he adapted to their way of thinking to make things easy for everybody. After 125 days in CECOT, he was released in July as part of a prisoner swap in exchange for 10 Americans held in Venezuela. He is now safely back home, living with his family in Capacho, and is currently doing makeup at his fellow detainees’ weddings, as per the outlet.
To the American people who supported Romero, he offered immense gratitude and said through the show, “May God reward you. May God bless you. There’s a Venezuelan here who loves the United States.”
Trump’s immigration policies have received immense backlash, and only radical old Republicans seem to support them. Many Californians see the Trump-Vance administration as hostile toward immigrants and working-class communities, especially in sanctuary cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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In June, there was a massive protest in downtown Los Angeles after the Trump administration illegally deployed 4,100 National Guard and 700 Marines to the streets of the city. Also, Romero wasn’t the only one who was detained and deported. Kilmar Amrado Abrego-Garcia was also one of the members who was granted protected legal status by the US government in 2019. Yet, the Trump administration wrongfully accused him of being part of the notorious MS-13 gang.
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Another similar incident occurred with two brothers from Venezuela who are Chicago residents. One of the brothers needed a kidney transplant. The second brother, who had agreed to be a donor, was detained by ICE agents. Residents of Chicago are now rallying in support to stand up against his ruthless deportation.
