[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
After a long and truly nightmarish prison stay, gay makeup artist Andry Hernandez Romero has been released — and is sharing the horrific things he was put through. It’s truly so, so awful.
As we covered, Andry was one of over 200 Venezuelan men President Donald Trump deported in March after invoking the war-era Alien Enemies Act, giving him the ability to deport noncitizens without evidence or the need for a court hearing. Despite having no criminal record and seeking asylum in the States — you know, the right way — the beauty guru was removed from the country. Federal agents said they believed his crown tattoos, which read “mom” and “dad,” indicated he was a part of the Tren de Aragua gang. While the gang often uses crown tattoos as alleged proof of membership, Andry’s lawyers denied he was involved with the group. Still, he was denied due process and thrown in the notorious El Salvador prison CECOT, where he was put through hell for 125 days.
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Thankfully, Andry was among the 250 Venezuelan immigrants released from imprisonment earlier last month, and he has since been reunited with his family in his home country. Per Reuters, Andry spoke with journalists from his home in Capacho on Wednesday, in which he opened up about the violence he endured. The 32-year-old harrowingly alleged:
“It was an encounter with torture and death.”
Jeez. He said the prisoners were beaten, shot with rubber projectiles, and left in dark cells:
“Many of our fellows have wounds from the nightsticks; they have fractured ribs, fractured fingers and toes, marks from the handcuffs. Others have marks on their chests, on their face … from the projectiles.”
In a televised interview shown on Venezuelan state media last week, according to Reuters, Andry also alleged he was sexually abused. Not by the other prisoners — by the prison guards! Horrific. He alleged, as reported by The Advocate and translated from Spanish:
“In my particular case, I was sexually abused by the same Salvadoran authorities who guarded us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. … We believed we would never see our families again.”
This is where they’re putting people? In a torture facility where the guards are raping the inmates?!?
He continued during an interview on Con Maduro +:
“I poured some water on myself, and they caught me. They took me to solitary confinement and abused me. I was forced to perform oral sex on an officer. Three officers grabbed the batons and passed them over my private parts. And for me, that was just too devastating. It was my integrity as a human being, as a person of the [LGBTQ+] community, that [brought me to my lowest point.]”
The Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab said his office will investigate Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele over the alleged torture. Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security dismissed the abuse allegations — calling the men “criminal, illegal gang members.” WTF.
Even if they were criminals, which many seem not to have been — again, that’s what due process is for, figuring out who’s who — this isn’t something a civilized society should be doing to anyone!
While it’s obviously incredible news that Andry is no longer imprisoned, he’s not out of harm’s way yet. Melissa Shepard, a lawyer with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center who represents the makeup artist and other deported men, told KGTV:
“While we’re happy that he’s no longer in the torture prison, we are worried for his future. They were physically, verbally, and psychologically tortured.”
The co-founder and CEO of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Lindsay Toczylowski, told The Advocate on Monday that Andry’s case highlights “a really dark foreshadowing of where we’re going as a country if this is allowed to stand.” She elaborated:
“These are people who were sent with no due process to be tortured, only to then be used as political pawns in a prisoner release that none of us were privy to before it happened, that none of them consented to being a part of.”
She pointed out that Andry is still in danger while in Venezuela — where he originally fled persecution for his sexual orientation. They’re looking into a relocation for him, but it’s tricky under President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro‘s regime. As they try to sort things out, Andry is grateful for the support he has received. He told Reuters:
“It fills me with so much peace, so much comfort, so much tranquility that I was never alone, from day one. There were many people who worried for me.”
Nothing will repair the damage this shocking deportation has caused him and his family, but we’re glad the support is bringing him much-needed “comfort” as he processes this trauma.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Lindsay Toczylowski/Bluesky]
The post Gay Makeup Artist Who Was Sent To El Salvador Prison — Despite Entering US Legally! — Claims He Was Raped By Guards appeared first on Perez Hilton.