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.
Imagine getting an asylum appointment from the U.S. government, showing up for your scheduled appointment, and then getting deported to a foreign prison.
— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia) May 1, 2025
That's what happened to Andry Romero. He deserves due process. pic.twitter.com/2ShTKqItmu
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.”
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