Andry Hernández Romero: Asylum, Deportation & Prison Survival

In one of his initial comprehensive U.S. press interviews because being launched from custody in July, carried out using video conference on Wednesday and published Thursday, Andry Hernández Romero defined discovering ways to endure by adapting to his fellow prisoners, maintaining a reduced account about his sexuality, and holding on to his confidence, also as advocates alert he continues to be harmful in Venezuela. He talked withThe Bulwark’s Tim Miller in Spanish, his words later equated into English. The 31-year-old makeup musician was back in his home nation after a 125-day loss into El Salvador’s CECOT prison, the stretching complicated the local government calls a Terrorism Arrest Facility, and human rights supporters have contrasted to a modern-day concentration camp.

Hernández Romero claimed the group got in the prison as “252 complete strangers” yet became “252 bros,” a connection built in prayer, shared protection, and the day-to-day initiative to endure. He informed Miller he intends to do make-up for the bride-to-bes of numerous men with whom he was put behind bars, including one from his home state that is weding in 2 weeks. “The happiness most of us have now is enormous,” he claimed.

Asked about media records of sexual assault, Hernández Romero verified the abuse was “entirely true” however decreased additionally details on suggestions from his attorneys. To those that doubt his account, he urged compassion and reviewed the ruthlessness of public judgment. “We can not make fire wood from a fallen tree,” he claimed. “It’s very easy to speak terribly of a person, but they do not like it when individuals speak badly of them. As a relative informed me, everyone throws stones at the tree that bears fruit.”

Hernández Romero claimed he got in the United States lawfully on August 29, 2024, with the CBP One application, seeking asylum from anti-LGBTQ+ mistreatment in Venezuela. He said he formally asked for a conference to test the category but was never ever granted one. “It was the best day to take us out of the nation,” Hernández Romero said. “My fellow prisoners claimed anyone who got in there would never leave,” he claimed. Hernández Romero stated the group got in the prison as “252 complete strangers” however arised as “252 siblings,” a link created in prayer, mutual defense, and the day-to-day effort to survive.

Seeking Asylum and Initial Detention

Christopher Wiggins is The Supporter’s elderly nationwide press reporter in Washington, D.C., covering the intersection of public policy and politics with LGBTQ+ lives, including The White Residence, United State Congress, High Court, and government agencies. He has created numerous cover story accounts for The Supporter’s print publication, profiling numbers like Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, longtime LGBTQ+ ally Vice President Kamala Harris, and ABC Greetings America Weekend anchor Gio Benitez. Wiggins is committed to magnifying untold tales, especially as the 2nd Trump administration’s policies impact LGBTQ+ (and especially transgender) legal rights, and can be reached at christopher.wiggins@equalpride.com or on BlueSky at cwnewser.bsky.social; whistleblowers can safely contact him on Signal at cwdc.98.

Rep. Robert Garcia, a gay CaliforniaDemocrat and your house Oversight Board’s ranking member, has actually sworn to proceed pressing for Hernández Romero’s safety and a return to the U.S. “We’ll do every little thing we can to secure him, make sure he has his due procedure legal rights, however most significantly … that he’s in fact risk-free,” Garcia stated in July. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a gay New York Democrat, called the expulsion “a harmful and deeply cruel choice” and claimed Hernández Romero is “owed an apology from the White Residence.”

Hernández Romero claimed he entered the United States legally on August 29, 2024, through the CBP One app, seeking asylum from anti-LGBTQ+ mistreatment in Venezuela. He was apprehended instantly. Within a week, officials charged him of coming from the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang based only on two tattoos: the words “mama” and “father” with a crown.

A gay Venezuelan guy that had sought asylum in the U.S. before being deported to among one of the most feared prisons in Latin America under the Trump administration recounted thoroughly just how he endured whippings, sexual offense, and months of unpredictability inside El Salvador’s CECOT supermax and why he still states he likes the United States.

Life Inside El Salvador’s CECOT Prison

Inside CECOT, he feared he would never ever venture out. “My fellow inmates claimed anyone that went into there would never leave,” he said. Hernández Romero described that he made an aware decision to endure by finding common ground with individuals around him and keeping a reduced account about his sexuality. “As opposed to them adjusting to me, which is harder due to my sexual orientation, I preferred to adapt to just how they were, exactly how they assume, how they see life,” he said. “That made friendship and coexistence healthier.”

He told Miller that ICE police officers lied to detainees regarding their destination, hosting delays in Honduras before touchdown in San Salvador late on a Saturday, when courts in the united state were shut. “It was the ideal day to take us out of the country,” Hernández Romero claimed. Once off the plane, he recalled, “They started striking and kicking us … in between 2 officers, they dragged us down the staircases.”

“The crown represents for me that they are kings, my columns,” Hernández Romero claimed, “and it’s additionally a tribute to a cinema team I came from.” He said he formally requested a conference to challenge the category however was never granted one. “I attempted by every methods I could, and my household could, to prove my virtue … yet the detention facility never ever wished to think me.”

Deportation and Continued Fight for Justice

In March, Hernández Romero was deported under the Trump administration’s restored use of the Alien Enemies Act, a centuries-old war time law traditionally used to detain or deport immigrants en masse. He had no ties to El Salvador and was sent there without a hearing.

From Venezuela, Hernández Romero informed Miller he holds no resentment towards the U.S. “It’s a nation that uses several chances,” he claimed. “The time of God is best … this is a life objective He gave us to see His greatness and sight points differently.”

Hernández Romero talked without resentment, also as he stated being misidentified by united state migration authorities as a gang member, being tricked right into believing he was being deported to Venezuela, and sexually assaulted while captive.

His July 18 launch, component of a detainee swap postponed for weeks by chaos inside the Trump administration, was not the legal success his fans had actually defended. Lindsay Toczylowski, cofounder and CEO of the Immigrant Defenders Regulation Center, informed The Supporter last month that while the launch brought relief, “he remains risky” in Venezuela, the country he had actually fled.

Christopher Wiggins is The Supporter’s elderly national press reporter in Washington, D.C., covering the junction of public law and politics with LGBTQ+ lives, consisting of The White Residence, U.S. Congress, High Court, and federal agencies. He has actually created numerous cover story accounts for The Advocate’s print magazine, profiling figures like Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, long time LGBTQ+ ally Vice President Kamala Harris, and ABC Greetings America Weekend anchor Gio Benitez. Wiggins is dedicated to amplifying unimaginable tales, specifically as the 2nd Trump administration’s policies impact LGBTQ+ (and particularly transgender) civil liberties, and can be gotten to at christopher.wiggins@equalpride.com or on BlueSky at cwnewser.bsky.social; whistleblowers can securely call him on Signal at cwdc.98.

He stated part of the discomfort of his detention was enduring false stories concerning who he was. “A nadie le gusta que hablen mal de uno,” he told Miller: “No one suches as having their name dragged through the mud.”