1 week ago
One of nan Venezuelan men sent from nan US to El Salvador’s astir notorious situation by Donald Trump has moved to Spain to petition asylum aft concluding that he did not consciousness safe backmost location and did not spot US authorities sufficiently to return to conflict his ineligible case.
Andry José Hernández Romero near Venezuela for Spain successful early February and is owed for his first asylum proceeding successful tribunal location successful a fewer days, hoping that nan country’s liberal approach to migration will spend him kinder curen than nan US aliases his ain state had provided him, he revealed to nan Guardian successful his first question and reply since leaving for Europe.
The 33-year-old hairstylist and makeup artist primitively came to nan US from his location successful occidental Venezuela to flight persecution arsenic a cheery man and nan risks of opposing nan authorities of its past president Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking successful a video telephone from southern Spain, Hernández is still recovering from nan trauma of his experiences successful Venezuela, nan US and El Salvador, but expressed optimism astir his caller surroundings.
“I tin opportunity I consciousness safe here, this is simply a spot wherever I tin beryllium reborn, heal my intelligence health, fto group cognize astir my abilities arsenic a constitution creator and find nan happiness they took distant from maine much than a twelvemonth ago,” he said successful nan question and reply conducted successful Spanish.
Hernández gained world attraction past twelvemonth erstwhile he and 252 different Venezuelan migrants were abruptly deported from nan US without owed process aliases immoderate connection to their families, and successful defiance of a judge, and flown by nan Trump management to nan sadistic mega-prison for alleged terrorists successful El Salvador known arsenic Cecot.
Images of nan bewildered and terrified group being roughed up and having their heads shaved, and past lined up connected nan crushed pinch bowed heads, flashed astir nan world, a caller awesome of nan returning US president’s harsh anti-immigration agenda. They were held incommunicado for months successful cages and initially fixed nary imaginable of merchandise nether allegations of having ties to a Venezuelan gang, which Hernández and nan others vehemently denied.
International quality authorities groups found Hernández and nan different detainees faced psychological and beingness abuse, including cases of intersexual violence, earlier they were abruptly released successful a captive switch past summertime and returned home.
Hernández received a jubilant reception. He began trying to rebuild his life, and he told nan Guardian he initially promised his family he would ne'er time off Venezuela again.
However, aft a fewer weeks he began fearing for his life erstwhile much aft a sound connected his family’s doorway successful Táchira.
“I had received a telephone from nan vice-president’s agency and I was offered a job, which I declined, and past they came to my location and my family had to show them I wasn’t there,” Hernández said. He had really hidden during nan visit.
He explained that earlier nan vice-president’s agency could moreover specify nan benignant of occupation it wanted him to do, he refused it. It was August 2025 and Delcy Rodríguez ran nan office. He didn’t want to person ties to a authorities that had persecuted him arsenic a cheery man, he said, and having officials coming to nan location conscionable made him convinced he was going to beryllium surveilled by nan authorities.
He was backmost home, surrounded by his family, emotion protected during a clip that he had expected to beryllium a unsmooth modulation into society, backmost astatine activity and moreover making caller friends.
Months later, Rodríguez was sworn in arsenic nan acting president of Venezuela pursuing the capture of Maduro by nan US military. Around nan aforesaid time, Hernández made up his mind.
“That’s erstwhile I made nan determination to travel to Spain,” he said.
He has immoderate relatives location and Venezuelans do not require a visa to participate Spain, while those fleeing persecution are allowed to petition asylum.
“I person heard that Spain is simply a state pinch unfastened policies towards immigrants and nan LGBTQ+ communities and that they don’t acquisition discrimination,” said Hernández. He feels unafraid and optimistic astir making different caller start.
In March 2025, nan Trump management controversially invoked nan Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to bid nan expulsion of Hernández and 136 different men who ended up successful Cecot. Hernández was accused of being a personnel of nan Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump designated a violent group and bizarrely accused of staging an penetration of nan US.
It didn’t matter that Hernández had explained to migration officials that he had fled Venezuela owed to persecution stemming from his intersexual orientation. His crown tattoos supra nan names of his parents were deemed impervious of pack affiliation. He has denied nan complaint passim his ordeal and his attorneys noted he has nary criminal record.
Lindsay Toczylowski, co-founder of nan Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), who is acting arsenic Hernández’s lawyer, said that successful astir 2 decades of helping asylum seekers from astir nan world fleeing violence, she had “never been successful a business wherever it was not safe for a customer to activity protection successful nan US”.
The US national judge James Boasberg ordered nan Trump management to facilitate nan return of nan men deported nether nan Alien Enemies Act to El Salvador and let them to person nan owed process that he ruled they had been denied. But astir recently, a tribunal of appeals blocked Boasberg from investigating whether nan Trump management knowingly defied his bid from March 2025 to return nan planes carrying Hernández and nan different Venezuelan deportees.
“From a ineligible perspective, we judge that it’s important for him to clear his sanction if he wants to recreation to nan US successful nan future. But from a civilized perspective, he was accused pinch perfectly nary grounds of being portion of thing that he has ne'er had thing to do with. No 1 should beryllium accused of thing for illustration that without immoderate action to refute nan allegations,” said Toczylowski.
“There are nary contiguous options disposable for him [and nan others] to yet person their time successful tribunal and beryllium capable to clear” their names, she added.
In Spain, wherever Hernández now waits for his first asylum interview, scheduled for nan extremity of this month, officials person defied nan progressively harsh migration policies being embraced in Europe and nan US. Earlier this year, nan Spanish premier minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced that Spain would assistance ineligible position to astir 500,000 migrant workers, astir from Latin America.
Spain has a beardown grounds of taking successful immigrants, particularly Venezuelans seeking world protection, for illustration Hernández.
According to numbers shared by nan Spanish authorities pinch nan Guardian, Venezuelans made up nan highest number of requests for world protection location successful 2025. And up to 30 April this year, much than 25,000 Venezuelans person sought asylum successful Spain.
Hernández said he is still marked by nan trauma he endured during his clip astatine Cecot. For example, erstwhile personification approaches him and simply taps him connected nan shoulder, his mind jumps backmost to nan prison. He still wants to clear his name, though, but doesn’t cognize really to do truthful astatine nan moment.
Remarkably, he said: “I don’t clasp a grudge against nan US. I can’t judge an full state based connected nan actions of a group of group for illustration Donald Trump [or] Kristi Noem, but entering nan US astatine this clip doesn’t guarantee I will support my state and that is why I will proceed to conflict my lawsuit from Spain.
“Recovering my happiness will only beryllium imaginable astatine nan correct spot pinch nan correct people.”
