On Wednesday, the Los Angeles LGBT Center joined a coalition of California-based LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and community members at a press conference demanding the safe return of Andry José Hernández Romero—a 31-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration earlier this year.
“Andry came to this country believing in the promise of safety and dignity,” said Joe Hollendoner, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “Instead, he was met with detention, dehumanization, and ultimately, deportation. Andry’s deportation to a super maximum prison, specifically designed for gang members, has cut him off from contact with others and has resulted in him being deprived of all human rights. Without intervention, Andry’s deportation is effectively a death sentence.”
Hernández Romero entered the country lawfully in August 2024 after fleeing persecution in Venezuela due to his sexual orientation and political beliefs. He was detained by U.S. immigration authorities, falsely accused of gang affiliation based on his tattoos. He is being held in El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), known for its harsh conditions and human rights abuses.
“What happened to Andry was not a bureaucratic error. This was a moral failure,” said Hollendoneer. “One that falls squarely on the shoulders of the president and the lawless administration he’s appointed. ICE failed Andry just as it has failed countless other LGBTQ+ people. Their cruelty is an affront to human rights, justice, and queer liberation.”
“What happened to Andry was not a bureaucratic error. This was a moral failure.”
Joe Hollendoner, CEO, Los Angeles LGBT Center
LGBTQ+ individuals face disproportionate abuse in detention and are at higher risk when deported to countries with poor human rights records. Hernández Romero had no criminal record and had passed an initial asylum screening in the U.S., but he was nonetheless deported by the administration—without due process.
The Center, along with a coalition of LGBTQ+ organizations including Equality California and the TransLatin@ coalition, are calling for justice for Hernández Romero, including his safe return from El Salvador and a fair asylum hearing.
“We call on our elected officials to intervene and ensure his asylum claim is given a proper hearing. And, we ask our community to keep showing up and raising their voices in our fight for liberation,” said Hollendoner. “Our collective liberation depends on our individual freedom, including Andry’s. Let’s bring him home — and let’s never stop fighting until every LGBTQ immigrant and asylum seeker is safe.”
The ‘Justice 4 Andry’ coalition plans to march in solidarity during the nation’s annual May Day demonstration when workers, students, immigrant and labor rights activists take to the streets on International Workers’ Day.
In Los Angeles, May Day events kick off Thursday, with people gathering at 9 a.m. at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street. A rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. with the march itself beginning at 11 a.m.
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