Venezuelan Make Up Artist Kidnapped in El Salvador’s CECOT Returns to His Motherland
Venezuelan makeup artist Andry Hernández Romero, deported by the U.S. El Salvador and imprisoned in the megacarcel CECOT, returns to his homeland as part of the Bolivarian government’s efforts to rescue deported migrants. Photo: X/ @ReporteYa
July 19, 2025 Hour: 6:19 pm
Venezuelan make-up artist Andry Hernandez Romero, who was deported to the famous El Salvador mega prison CECOT by the government of Donald Trump, arrived in Venezuela on Friday, according to his lawyer.
RELATED:
Freedom at Last: 252 Venezuelans Freed from El Salvador’s CECOT “Concentration Camp” Return Home
The Immigrant Defenders Law Center identified Andry Romero as getting off a plane in Venezuela, according to news coverage. The group, through its chairman Lindsay Toczylowski, stated that it had confirmed the information despite having received no official confirmation from the government. Several families ImmDef works with were informed by the Venezuelan government of the return of their loved ones.
Originally from Capacho Nuevo, in the state of Táchira, Romero, a gay Venezuelan man, had left his country last summer in hopes of opening his own beauty salon on US territory and applied for asylum in the United States through an application to schedule an appointment at the San Diego border, where he was questioned about his tattoos, as American immigration authorities seek to “identify gang members” through “gang identifiers”.
Romero, who is just over 20 years old, has a crown tattooed on each wrist. One is next to the word “Mom”. The other is next to “Dad”. The crowns, according to his lawyer, also pay tribute to the “Three Kings” Christmas festival in his hometown and his work in beauty contests, where crowns are common.
Romero, who insisted that he had no ties to Tren de Aragua, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs and transferred to a detention centre in California. He was finally flown to the Salvadoran mega-prison known as the Terrorism Containment Center, or CECOT, in the midst of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The Venezuelan government, in collaboration with relatives, repatriated young compatriots from El Salvador, denouncing the violation of their human rights by the regime of Nayib Bukele.
This case is linked to a class action lawsuit against the Trump administration for the use of the Foreign Enemies Act, where it is alleged that the deportation of one of the youths violated the US Constitution, asylum laws and international law. Lawyer Lindsay Toczylowski pointed out that the young man’s asylum case was dismissed in the US, although there is a possibility of reopening it if he returns to that country.
