Andry Hernández Romero had dreams of coming to the U.S. and becoming a famous makeup artist or fashion designer. He wasn’t a political activist or a voice for LGBTQ+ rights before he left his small town in the state of Táchira, Venezuela, to come to the U.S. in September 2024.
But today, exactly one year since the Trump administration illegally sent him and 251 other men accused of being violent gang members to El Salvador’s notorious terrorism confinement center known as CECOT, Hernández has become emblematic of the horrific injustices that occurred behind those walls.
“People say, ‘Andry, are you famous?’ and my answer is, ‘At what cost?’” he told Daily Kos over a video call.
“If fame means entering a maximum-security prison and being physically and psychologically abused, I would prefer to have zero fame,” Hernández said.
On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump defied federal Judge James Boasberg’s orders and sent 238 Venezuelan men to CECOT using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as justification. Among them were also a handful of Salvadoran men along with eight women who were turned away from the male-only prison.
Related | Freeing Widmer: An aunt’s journey to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison
But Hernández’s individual story made prominent headlines during their four months behind bars and following their July 18, 2025, release. His family, desperate for information on his well-being, pleaded for his release and explained to the media that Hernández sought asylum in America after being harassed and targeted for being openly gay, and insisted he had zero ties to violent criminal gangs.
Soon after U.S. officials reached a deal with the Venezuelan government to trade the wrongly detained migrants for 10 American prisoners being held in South America, the freed men began to share the atrocities they experienced while confined.
Multiple reports of torture and abuse surfaced. Hernández recalled being sexually and physically abused by masked guards. But today, he told Daily Kos, it’s about looking forward.
“Now that I’m free, and after going through many circumstances psychologically and physically, and experiencing emotional and mental instability, I see things differently,” he said. “It makes me realize we must make decisions in a mature and responsible way. Even though what happened to us was not our fault.”
The now-32-year-old was accused, alongside the other Venezuelan deportees, of being a violent gang member. However, the only evidence cited against Hernández—an openly gay makeup artist and actor—was his tattoos.
“We were accused unjustly with arguments that aren’t solid,” he told Daily Kos. “First of all, a tattoo is not proof that someone belongs to a criminal gang. And second, nationality doesn’t make someone part of a gang.”
The Trump administration has stood by the claim that former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—who the U.S. captured in a military operation on Jan. 3—sent Tren de Aragua gang members into the country intentionally. This accusation has been widely disputed by experts and even internal intelligence documents.
“We need to stop this stigma of judging an entire nation because of a small minority,” Hernández added. “Despite the difficulties and stereotypes, right now I’m focused on clearing my name. I want to show the world that a stylist, professional makeup artist, fashion designer, and industrial engineering student has nothing to do with gangs or criminal organizations.”
Like many other former detainees, Hernández fled Venezuela after being released from prison and repatriated. The political and social factors that prompted many of them to leave Venezuela in the first place are largely unchanged. He continues to fight for his own justice from an undisclosed location.
But the outpouring of love and support that he has received from the LGBTQ+ community around the world has fortified his spirits and, despite being unable to attend in person, Hernández received a special recognition award from the media monitoring organization GLAAD, formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination, earlier this month.
Hernández has his own legal team working on a case against the U.S. government, but he is also a part of a class-action lawsuit seeking to give both him and the others deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act the due process they were denied.
Related | Maduro’s capture means chaos for Venezuelans in US
“We [have approached] the one-year anniversary, and these men still have not gotten due process,” Lee Gelernt, ACLU’s head attorney on JGG v. Trump told Daily Kos.
“And what's extraordinary about the government's position is that they no longer dispute that the men didn't get due process,” Gelernt said. “They no longer dispute that the men were whisked away in the middle of the night without any chance to show that they weren't gang members.”
However, Gelernt noted, the Trump administration is still arguing that the courts cannot give these men due process.
Trump’s team—namely Secretary of State Marco Rubio—argued that they couldn’t facilitate bringing the men back to the U.S. from Venezuela because diplomatic ties are so fragile with new sitting President Delcy Rodriguez after the U.S.’s ouster of Maduro.
Despite U.S. officials now insisting that they’ve reestablished diplomatic ties with Venezuela, Gelernt is not confident that the Trump administration will be forthright in explaining why they don’t want to facilitate the men’s return to the U.S.
Today, there is one Salvadoran man, Brandon Sigaran-Cruz, still being held at CECOT despite growing up in the U.S. Daily Kos has viewed documents confirming his continued confinement in the notorious prison.
One year after Trump’s cruel deportation stunt, headlines have moved on to other conflicts including ICE’s siege on blue states and cities and the war in Iran. But many of the freed men— including Hernández—can’t as easily switch to the newest trending topic.
“No matter how much we try to avoid it, the sun cannot be covered with one finger,” he explained.
“It’s a chapter in my life that will never disappear,” Hernández said. “Even if it’s in the past now, it will always be part of our lives. But we can turn the page and write a new chapter.”
Hernández was an industrial engineering student before he left Venezuela. But when the dust settles and his lawsuit is resolved, he hopes to explore an unexpected path.
“After everything that happened, after seeing my integrity violated and my human rights—and those of my companions—violated under the Alien Enemies Act, which hadn’t been used for a very long time, it sparked something in me,” Hernández explained.
“Now I want to study law and fight for human rights, especially for people who stay silent out of fear of retaliation from governments,” he said.
Despite enduring awful injustice and harrowing physical and mental abuse, Hernández is determined to focus on his family, the support he has received, and the gratitude he feels.
“We can use the negative experiences to create something positive,” he shared. “Help others, share knowledge, and inspire people to do good things.”
Alix Breeden March 15, 2026 at 03:00PM From Daily Kos
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