Andry José Hernández Romero is 31 years old. He's a make-up artist, hairdresser, and costume designer. The people who know him describe him as gentle, warm, and loving.
But because he is gay, he was threatened and targeted - so he fled his home country of Venezuela, and asked the U.S. government if he could seek refuge in the country.
And it looked like the U.S. was considering saying "yes." He passed a "credible fear" interview, and
U.S. immigration courts scheduled an asylum hearing for him, set to occur on
March 17.But he never made it to that hearing. In fact, today, U.S. government officials are refusing to even say whether or not he is alive at all.Please help us by signing the petition to demand that the U.S. government immediately bring him back from the nightmare El Salvadorian prison they sent him to, and grant him asylum!When he legally approached the San Diego border -
following all the correct rules and official government protocols for asylum-seekers - ICE arrested him. He never got to enjoy life in the U.S. For months, they held him in detention centers, until ultimately they put him on a plane and
deported him to the maximum-security CECOT prison in El Salvador - the same prison where ICE had also sent Kilmar Abrego García and more than 200 other immigrants.
That fateful plane ride was on March 15,
two days before his scheduled asylum hearing.
Since then, no one has heard from him. Not his mother, not his lawyer, not his friends - and not even members of Congress.
During a recent hearing in Congress, Rep. Robert Garcia of California asked Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, for more information. But the Secretary
flatly refused to answer questions about whether or not this young man is even alive anymore. She has also
refused to perform a welfare-check on him, or asking the government of El Salvador for proof of his well-being.This young man did nothing wrong. He followed all the rules and correct channels. He has zero criminal history. A judge in California was expecting to see him to rule on his case. And yet, today, his mother, friends, and lawyer have no idea if he is alive.
How could the U.S. do this to a young person who is already being targeted? And then to not even share whether he is safe, healthy, or still breathing? To act as though it just... doesn't matter? The level of cruelty is horrifying.
Help us shine a light on Andry José Hernández Romero's case, so that he is not forgotten! We must band together to demand that the U.S. government works to release him from the hellhole that is the CECOT prison in El Salvador, and finally give him his chance to gain asylum like he was supposed to! Sign the petition!