CECOT Survivor Andry Hernández Romero Flees Venezuela for Spain in Search of Safety

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5/22/26 

Contact:

media@immdef.org, 213-634-7615 

 CECOT Survivor Andry Hernández Romero  

Flees Venezuela for Spain in Search of Safety 

Venezuelan gay makeup artist is seeking asylum in Spain due to political and LGBTQ persecution 

LOS ANGELES, CA -  Andry Hernández Romero, the gay makeup artist wrongfully disappeared to El Salvador’s CECOT prison by the Trump administration under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), has fled Venezuela to seek safety and formally request asylum in Spain.  

In March 2025, after invoking the AEA, the Trump administration unlawfully rendered Andry and 251 other Venezuelan men to El Salvador where they were held incommunicado in a prison infamous for its humanitarian abuses. Andry has since suffered psychophysiological trauma stemming from abuse he experienced inside the brutal maximum security mega-prison.  Through a Federal Tort Claims Act complaint, Andry is seeking to have his name cleared, while pursuing compensation for the severe physical and psychological harm he suffered as a result of his unlawful disappearance and detention by the Trump administration.  

Andry has no criminal history, a fact that was well-known to the Trump administration when he was placed in custody. He was in active asylum proceedings prior to the March 15, 2025 flight, which were terminated during his time in CECOT, and ImmDef’s appeal of that termination was dismissed. 

Andry Hernández Romero reflected, “What matters most to me now is reclaiming true freedom both mentally and physically. The bruises and marks from the abuse at CECOT may have faded, but the trauma hasn’t. I still carry the sound of handcuffs snapping shut, the cries of my fellow detainees, and the humiliating words they used against us. Those echoes stay with you. The psychological wounds are the ones that cut the deepest. 

Finding my happiness again will only be possible in the right place, with the right people, and I hope Spain can be that place for me. I want to remind the world: nationality, skin color, or tattoos do not make someone a criminal. Every person deserves the right to be heard in a real judicial process, where the truth of their story can finally come to light. Every story is different. Every person has their own reasons for seeking safety. Every person deserves a chance.” 

Lindsay Toczylowski, CEO and co-founder of ImmDef shared, “We are witnessing the collapse of a system that once promised protection. With our courts gutted of due process, people like Andry face the unthinkable: being deported to countries where their lives are at risk, all because they dared to seek safety in the United States. While I was relieved that he was heading to Spain instead of the United States, I also felt despair at what that says about us as a country. The fight for people like Andry is a fight for the future of our democracy. When the safer option for an asylum seeker is not the United States, it forces us to confront what kind of nation we are becoming. We must end third-country removals and restore the asylum system, and keep fighting for a future rooted in justice for all.”  

In addition to holding DHS accountable for the breakdown of the rule of law and subsequent torture of the 252 Venezuelan men sent to CECOT, ImmDef is demanding the following:   

• The Trump administration must officially release the names of all people the United States sent to CECOT to ensure that everyone has been or will be released.  

• The federal government must clear the names of the 252 men wrongfully labeled as criminal gang members of Tren de Aragua.   

• DHS must end the practice of outsourcing torture through third‑country removals, restore humanitarian parole, and rebuild a functioning, humane asylum system.  

• DHS must reinstate Temporary Protected Status for all individuals who cannot safely return to their home countries, halt mass deportations and unlawful raids and arrests, and guarantee due process for everyone navigating the byzantine immigration system.  

• Congress must repeal the Alien Enemies Act by passing the Neighbors Not Enemies Act.   

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The Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) is a next-generation social justice law firm that defends immigrant communities against injustices in the immigration system. Our programs are a first step towards realizing the long-term goal of providing universal representation to all immigrants facing deportation. ImmDef is now the largest non‐profit, pro bono provider of deportation defense in California, with offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Ana, and San Diego.