When a door slammed shut within the childhood house of Andry Hernández Romero, he wasn’t simply startled. He winced, recoiling from the noise.
Almost a month had handed since Hernández Romero, a 32-year-old make-up artist, and 251 different Venezuelans have been launched from a infamous Salvadoran mega-prison.
In a Zoom interview in August from Venezuela, Hernández Romero listed the methods through which the trauma of the ordeal nonetheless manifests itself.
“When doors are slammed — did you notice [my reaction] when the door made noise just now?” he mentioned. “I can’t stand keys. Being touched when I’m asleep. If I see an officer with cuffs in their hand, I get scared and nervous.”
Trump administration officers accused the Venezuelan males of being members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua and a nationwide safety menace, although many, together with Hernández Romero, had no legal histories within the U.S. or Venezuela.
“Before I was Andry the makeup artist, Andry the stylist, Andry the designer,” he mentioned. “I was somewhat recognized, but not as directly. Right now, if you type my name into Google, TikTok, YouTube — any platform — my entire life shows up.”
Within the “60 Minutes” episode, Time photojournalist Philip Holsinger recounted listening to a person on the jail cry for his mom, saying, “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a stylist,” whereas jail guards slapped him and shaved his head.
Outrage grew. On social media, customers declared him disappeared, asking, “Is Andry Hernández Romero alive?”
Activists made indicators and banners demanding the federal authorities “FREE ANDRY.” Throughout Delight Month, the Human Rights Marketing campaign held a rally about him in Washington, D.C. The New Queens Delight Parade in New York named him honorary grand marshal.
Congressional Democrats traveled to El Salvador to push for details about the detainees and got here again empty-handed.
“Let’s get real for a moment,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-New York) mentioned in an April 9 video on X. The video reduce to a glamour shot of Hernández Romero peering from behind three smoldering make-up brushes.
“When was the last time you saw a gay makeup artist in a transnational gang?” Torres mentioned.
Hernández Romero walks by way of a market in his hometown of Capacho Nuevo.
Hernández Romero reveals the crown tattoos that U.S. authorities claimed linked him to the Tren de Aragua gang.
Hernández Romero fled Venezuela after dealing with persecution for his sexuality and political beliefs, in accordance with his legal professionals.
He entered the U.S. legally on the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Aug. 29, 2024, after acquiring an appointment by way of CBP One, the asylum utility course of used within the Biden administration. The elation of getting by way of lasted only a few minutes, he mentioned.
Hernández Romero spent six months on the Otay Mesa Detention Heart. He had handed a “credible fear” interview — step one within the asylum course of — however immigration officers had lasered in on two of his 9 tattoos: a crown on every wrist with “Mom” and “Dad” in English.
Immigrant detainees are given blue, orange or pink uniforms, relying on their classification stage. A guard as soon as defined that detainees sporting orange, like him, could possibly be criminals. Hernández Romero mentioned he replied, “Is being a gay a crime? Or is doing makeup a crime?”
When his deportation flight landed in El Salvador, he noticed tanks and officers wearing all black, carrying massive weapons.
A Salvadoran man acquired off first — Kilmar Abrego García, whose case turned a flash level of controversy after federal officers acknowledged he had been wrongly deported.
Eight Venezuelan ladies acquired off subsequent, however Salvadoran officers rejected them they usually have been led again onto the aircraft. Hernández Romero mentioned the remaining Venezuelans felt relieved, considering they too could be rejected.
As an alternative, they ended up in jail.
Hernández Romero does the make-up for Gabriela Mora, the fiancee of his fellow prisoner Carlos Uzcátegui, hours earlier than their civil marriage ceremony within the city of Lobatera.
“I saw myself hit, I saw myself carried by two officials with my head toward the ground, receiving blows and kicks,” Hernández Romero mentioned. “After that reality kind of strikes me: I was in a cell in El Salvador, in a maximum-security prison with nine other people and asking myself, ‘What am I doing here?’”
As a stylist, he mentioned, having his hair shaved off was notably devastating. Even worse have been the accompanying blows and homophobic insults.
He remembers the photographer snapping photographs of him and feeling the sting of his privateness being violated. Now, he understands their significance: “It’s thanks to those photos that we are now back in our homes.”
On the jail, guards taunted them, Hernández Romero mentioned, telling them, “You all are going to die here.”
Hernández Romero befriended Carlos Uzcátegui, 32, who was held within the cell throughout the corridor. Prisoners weren’t allowed to speak with folks outdoors their cells, however the pair quietly acquired to know one another at any time when the guards have been distracted.
Uzcátegui mentioned he was additionally detained for having a crown tattoo and for one more depicting three stars, one for every of his youthful sisters.
A prisoner is moved by a guard on the Terrorist Confinement Heart, a high-security jail in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26. (Alex Brandon, Pool/AFP through Getty Pictures)
As prisoners seems on, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem speaks throughout a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Heart on March 26. (Alex Brandon, Pool/AFP through Getty Pictures)
Hernández Romero mentioned he seen that a few of the guards would stare at him when he showered. He advised reporters that guards took him to a small, windowless room often called “La Isla,” or “The Island,” after noticing him bathing with a bucket outdoors of designated hours. There, he mentioned, he was crushed by three guards sporting masks and compelled to carry out oral intercourse on considered one of them, in accordance with NPR and different retailers.
Hernández Romero now not needs to speak concerning the particulars of the alleged abuse. His legal professionals are trying into accessible authorized choices.
“Perhaps those people will escape earthly justice, the justice of man, but when it comes to the justice of our Father God, no one escapes,” he mentioned. “Life is a restaurant — no one leaves without paying.”
Uzcátegui mentioned guards as soon as pulled out his toenails and denied him remedy regardless of a excessive fever. He had already showered, however as his fever worsened he took a second bathe, which wasn’t allowed.
He mentioned guards pushed him down, kicked him repeatedly within the abdomen, then left him in “La Isla” for 3 days.
In July, rumors started circulating within the jail that the Venezuelans is perhaps launched, however the detainees didn’t imagine the discuss till the pastor who gave their each day sermon appeared uncharacteristically emotional. He advised them: “The miracle is done. Tomorrow is a new day for you all.”
Uzcátegui remained unconvinced. That night time, he couldn’t sleep due to the noise of individuals shifting across the jail. He mentioned often that meant that guards would enter their cell block early within the morning to beat them.
Hernández Romero seen his good friend was stressed. “We’re leaving today,” he mentioned.
“I don’t believe it,” Uzcátegui replied. “It’s always the same.”
Hernández Romero knew that they had spent 125 days imprisoned as a result of when any detainee went for a medical seek the advice of, they might unobtrusively notice the calendar within the room and report again to the group. The detainees would then mark the day on their metallic mattress frames utilizing cleaning soap.
On July 18, buses arrived on the jail at 3 a.m. to take the Venezuelans to the airport. Officers referred to as out Hernández Romero and Arturo Suárez-Trejo, a singer whose case had additionally drawn public consideration, for particular person images. Hernández Romero mentioned they have been puzzled however obliged.
Migrants deported by the US to El Salvador underneath the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar Worldwide Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on July 18.
(Ariana Cubillos / Related Press)
When their flight touched down, an official advised them: “Welcome to Venezuela.” Strolling down the aircraft steps, Hernández Romero felt the Caribbean breeze on his face and thanked God.
A number of days later, he was again in his hometown, Capacho Nuevo, hugging his mother and father and brother within the heart of a swarm of journalists and supporters chanting his identify.
“I left home with a suitcase full of dreams, with dreams of helping my people, of helping my family, but unfortunately, that suitcase of dreams turned into a suitcase of nightmares,” he advised reporters there.
Hernández Romero mentioned he desires to see his identify cleared. For him, justice would imply “that the people who kidnapped us and unfairly blamed us should pay.”
President Trump had invoked an 18th-century wartime regulation to shortly take away most of the Venezuelans to El Salvador in March. In a 2-1 choice on Sept. 2, a panel of judges from the U.S. fifth Circuit Court docket of Appeals discovered that the administration acted unlawfully, saying there was “no invasion or predatory incursion.”
Trump administration officers have advised a federal choose that they might facilitate the return of Venezuelans to the U.S. in the event that they want to proceed the asylum proceedings that have been dismissed after they have been despatched to El Salvador. If there’s one other likelihood to meet his desires, Hernández Romero mentioned he’s “not closed off to anything.”
Uzcátegui sees it otherwise. After all the things he went by way of, he mentioned, he in all probability wouldn’t return.
Now he suffers from nightmares that it’s taking place once more. “Despite everything, you end up feeling like it’s not true that we’re out of there,” he mentioned. “You wake up thinking you’re still there.”
Carlos Uzcátegui exchanges vows with Gabriela Mora throughout their marriage ceremony in August as Hernández Romero, proper, in cap, seems on.
As he restarts his profession, Hernández Romero is redeveloping a consumer checklist as a make-up artist. Final month, he labored a very particular marriage ceremony: Uzcátegui’s. He did make-up for his good friend’s now-wife, Gabriela Mora.
“He lived the same things I did in there,” Uzcátegui mentioned. “It was like knowing that we are finally free — that despite all the things we talked about that we never thought would happen, that friendship remains. We’re like family.”
