LGBTQ Nation - Out Rep. Robert Garcia demands answers about gay makeup artist held in torture camp

Out gay Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) sent letters demanding answers to his “grave concerns” about why gay makeup artist Andry José Hernandez Romero was sent to the CECOT torture camp in El Salvador. Authorities claim that he has tattoos associated with the Tren de Aragua gang, but that assessment appears to have been made by a disgraced former police officer who was working for a private contractor after losing his job with the police force.

While much of America is focused on Maryland dad Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to CECOT due to an admitted “administrative error,” Garcia is asking about Hernandez, a makeup artist who made national headlines.

Hernandez Romero is a Venezuelan immigrant who trekked to the U.S. and entered legally last year at San Diego. There, he asked for asylum, saying that he was being targeted in Venezuela for being gay and due to his political beliefs. He was held in a CoreCivic detention center, where he was screened by Charles Cross Jr.

“The government had found that his threats against him were credible and that he had a real probability of winning an asylum claim,” his lawyer, Lindsay Toczylowski, said.

In March, he, along with over 200 other immigrants, was taken in shackles to the CECOT camp in El Salvador. Even his lawyer said she didn’t know what happened to him until he was gone and missed a hearing in his immigration case.

In a video from the CECOT, Hernandez Romero could be heard saying, “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a stylist,” as he was slapped and had his head shaved.

“We have grave concerns about whether he can survive,” Toczylowski told CBS News.

It was later revealed that the evidence Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had against Hernandez Romero was his tattoos, which came from a report from the contractor CoreCivic, specifically from former police officer Charles Cross Jr., who lost his job with the Milwaukee police after he drunkenly crashed into a house and allegedly committed fraud. His name was subsequently added to the Brady List, a list of police officers who are considered non-credible for providing legal testimony in Milwaukee County.

Cross claimed that Hernandez Romero had crown tattoos associated with the gang. The tattoos are labeled “Mom” and “Dad” and are common symbols associated with his hometown of Capacho, Venezuela. Capacho is known for its elaborate festival for Three Kings Day, and a childhood friend, Reina Cardenas, told NBC News that it was that festival that awakened Hernandez Romero’s desire to be an artist.

“Andry dedicated his life to arts and culture, and he worked hard to better his craft,” Cardenas said.

Congressman Garcia sent letters to CoreCivic and ICE demanding answers about why Hernandez Romero is being held in the camp that is notorious for torturing inmates.

“I write to express grave concerns regarding the deportation of Andry José Hernandez Romero, a 31-year-old gay Venezuelan asylum seeker, to El Salvador,” Garcia wrote, asking what role Cross, with his “documented history of misconduct,” played in getting Hernandez Romero sent there. Garcia included several questions about what safeguards were put into place before sending Hernandez Romero and gave a May 1 deadline for answers.

Garcia recently traveled to El Salvador with several other House Democrats to check on Abrego Garcia, who is being held in the same torture camp as Hernandez Romero. The congressmembers were denied permission from Republicans, who hold a majority in the House, to get an official delegation to go to El Salvador, so they paid their own way for the trip.

“We’re not going to be stopped from doing the right thing in standing up for due process and the Constitution,” Garcia told CBS News.

“Democrats have to continue to show up and bring attention to this issue.”