SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Immigrant Defenders Law Center is fighting to get a gay 31-year-old man who was deported to El Salvador back on U.S. soil.
“We're really worried about how Andry is doing in that prison and knowing that he's in a place that's so unsafe,” said Melissa Shepard, director of legal services at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, 31, had been waiting at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego for his asylum claim to be heard.
The makeup artist, who fled Venezuela last summer, where he worked at a state-owned TV station, had been detained under the Biden administration after border officers suspected him of being a Tren de Aragua gang member — something he repeatedly denied.
A court filing by the Immigrant Defenders Law Center said Romero arrived at the San Diego border last August after making an appointment with the CBP One app.
Border officers then sent the gay man, who “faced constant discrimination” and had been followed by armed thugs on behalf of the Maduro government in Venezuela, to the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
“He was flagged as a security risk for the sole reason of his tattoos,” attorney Paulina Reyes wrote in a court filing.
Romero was abruptly moved on March 6 or March 7 to a detention center in Texas. Reyes said she thought something was wrong when her client didn’t show up to immigration court on March 13 over video. Days later, ICE confirmed he had been removed to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act.
“These are uncharted territories, and we've never had a client who has disappeared mid-asylum proceedings,” said Shepard in an interview Thursday.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended Romero’s deportation in a post on X.
“This man’s own social media indicated he is a member of Tren de Aragua,” she wrote.
Shepard said Romero’s tattoos are actually of the Three Kings paying homage to Jesus. She maintained he was not a gang member.
'Slapped and abused'
“This is somebody who has always been in the pageantry and styling and makeup industry," Shepard said.
No one from Romero’s legal team has been able to contact him in El Salvador, Shepard said, adding attorneys are concerned for his safety.
“Just last week, we received confirmation, an eyewitness statement, stating that when he was being processed at that prison in El Salvador, he was being slapped and abused," she said.
Shepard is hoping the courts will get involved and order Romero’s return to the United States.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration must facilitate the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
The government argued Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 street gang, which he denies, but admitted he was deported due to an “administrative error.”
In 2019, an immigration judge ruled Garcia couldn’t be removed to El Salvador because he faced persecution in the country.
On Friday, after this story was published, ICE sent a statement that said the agency conducts investigations that target gang leadership, members and associates in the United States and abroad.
"ICE uses its broad legal authorities to prevent transnational gangs from growing. We partner with domestic and international law enforcement agencies to identify and trace gangs’ activities. Together, we determine the best legal authorities to use to arrest criminals, seize gangs’ illicit proceeds and help victims," an ICE spokesperson wrote.
CONTINUING COVERAGE:
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- ‘I feel like we have been kidnapped’: Canadian speaks out in tearful video call from ICE detention
- ‘It is like jail’: German man visiting American fiancé detained by ICE for over 2 weeks
- ‘Like a horror movie’: German tourist detained by ICE says she spent week in solitary confinement
