{"id":16765,"date":"2025-05-29T11:38:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T11:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/29\/he-left-venezuela-for-the-us-dreaming-of-a-career-in-cosmetics-he-was-deported-to-a-salvadoran-prison\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T11:38:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T11:38:32","slug":"he-left-venezuela-for-the-us-dreaming-of-a-career-in-cosmetics-he-was-deported-to-a-salvadoran-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/29\/he-left-venezuela-for-the-us-dreaming-of-a-career-in-cosmetics-he-was-deported-to-a-salvadoran-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"He left Venezuela for the US, dreaming of a career in cosmetics. He was deported to a Salvadoran prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year ago, Andry Jos\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez Romero left Venezuela to seek a better future in the United States.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

On May 23, 2024 \u2013 just two days after his 31st birthday \u2013 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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cPlease bring him back, it\u2019s been two months of anguish. We can\u2019t take it anymore. Please, put your hand on your heart and send him back. This anguish is eating us alive \u2026 I hope these people say, \u2018Yes, he\u2019s coming back.\u2019 That they say something, anything, just a little thing,\u201d pleads Alexis, 65. <\/p>\n

Who is Andry Jos\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez Romero?<\/h2>\n

Andry Hern\u00e1ndez Romero turned 32 this Wednesday. He is from Capacho Nuevo, a town in the Venezuelan border state of T\u00e1chira 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. <\/p>\n

Since he was 7, Hern\u00e1ndez has participated as an actor in the \u201cReyes Magos de Capacho\u201d festival, which a few months ago celebrated its 108th anniversary and is a keystone cultural event in both T\u00e1chira and all of Venezuela. <\/p>\n

In his teens and adult life, Hern\u00e1ndez 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 Mari\u00f1o Polytechnic in San Crist\u00f3bal, a private university in T\u00e1chira. Tuition increased every month, so \u201cthe work bug bit him\u201d and he decided to drop out to focus on his career, his mother says. <\/p>\n

Up until then, he had spent his whole life in Capacho, except for some trips to Bogot\u00e1, 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. <\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez has been far from home and out of contact for months in El Salvador\u2019s Cecot after being deported by the US government for alleged links to the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua, accusations his loved ones deny. <\/p>\n

The US trip that became a nightmare<\/h2>\n

Andry Hern\u00e1ndez 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 C\u00e1rdenas. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe showed up for his CBP One appointment on August 29 and from that moment he was detained in a migration center\u201d in the US, says C\u00e1rdenas. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Reina says that, from the moment he arrived \u2013 still during the Biden administration \u2013 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. <\/p>\n

When that happened, \u201cwe started sending all the evidence they asked for\u201d to prove otherwise and so Andry could continue his asylum application, adds his childhood friend. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey had nothing against him, no evidence,\u201d says Reina C\u00e1rdenas. \u201cWe 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

Despite the circumstances, C\u00e1rdenas says Andry\u2019s case was progressing favorably, according to their conversations with him while he was detained and with his legal defense. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis asylum process, up to the last we saw, was favorable,\u201d Reina says. \u201cHe passed the credible fear test. Everything was going very well. There were times when he wanted to be deported because of the time he\u2019d 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\u2019d be admitted at any moment.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s immigration case was ongoing, Trump\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

Deported under the Alien Enemies Act<\/h2>\n

Andry Hern\u00e1ndez is one of hundreds of migrants who in mid-March were deported to Cecot \u2013 the mega-prison built by El Salvador to incarcerate \u201cthe worst of the worst,\u201d according to the country\u2019s president, Nayib Bukele \u2013 under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime policy invoked by the Trump administration to expel alleged members of the Tren de Aragua. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat 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\u2019 constitutional right to Due Process under the Fifth Amendment,\u201d the lawsuit states. <\/p>\n

Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) handling the case, said the goal is for both Andry Hern\u00e1ndez and the other Venezuelans in Cecot to have a fair process in the US. <\/p>\n

The ACLU attorney also says they have not been able to communicate with any migrants in Cecot, so Andry Hern\u00e1ndez and the other detainees have been unable to contact their families and loved ones for more than two months. <\/p>\n

In May, the US Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump\u2019s 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\u2019s invocation has continued in various courts. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Tattoos with a different meaning<\/h2>\n

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 C\u00e1rdenas. <\/p>\n

C\u00e1rdenas and Romero say that Andry\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

Asylum process<\/h2>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro has previously spoken about the case of Venezuelans detained in El Salvador, calling the situation a kidnapping. <\/p>\n

\u201cI swear to you that we will rescue the 253 Venezuelans kidnapped in El Salvador, in concentration camps, as seen today,\u201d Maduro said earlier this month during an event after the first video of the detainees at CECOT was released. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s 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,\u201d the South American leader added. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

In April, El Salvador\u2019s President Nayib Bukele proposed to Maduro the exchange of people deported to his country and imprisoned in exchange for what he considers \u201cpolitical prisoners\u201d of the Venezuelan government. Maduro responded by demanding that lawyers and family members be allowed access. <\/p>\n

Support from the United States<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, in the US, pressure continues for the release of Hern\u00e1ndez and all detainees at Cecot. Margaret Cargioli, attorney at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center and legal adviser to Andry Hern\u00e1ndez, said in early May that \u201cdue process matters\u201d and that they will not stop until everyone is brought back to the US. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the greatest forms of torture imposed by Cecot is isolating people from their loved ones: no visits, no contact, no communication,\u201d Cargioli said at a joint event of advocacy groups and politicians. \u201cFor 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\u2019t stop until we bring them back\ufeff.\u201d <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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 Hern\u00e1ndez Romero, and hundreds of others, who were sent to the notoriously dangerous Cecot prison in El Salvador,\u201d Hoylman-Sigal said at the event. <\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Hern\u00e1ndez 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. Hern\u00e1ndez 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,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

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A year ago, Andry Jos\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez 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, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}