Immigration judge dismisses asylum case of gay Venezuelan deported to Salvadoran supermax prison

A federal immigration judge in California has dismissed the asylum case of Andry Hernández Romero, a 32-year-old gay Venezuelan makeup artist who was secretly deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s CECOT prison earlier this year.

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The decision, issued Tuesday in San Diego, is one of at least 14 recent dismissals involving Venezuelans sent to the notorious Salvadoran facility under the Alien Enemies Act, NBC News reports. Advocates say the move eliminates a key legal pathway to return.

“It seems the government’s intention is to complete the disappearance of people to El Salvador,” Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which represents Hernández Romero, told NBC. “To act as though they weren’t here seeking asylum in the first place.”

Unlike federal judges, immigration judges are employees of the Department of Justice, not part of the independent judiciary, raising concerns about potential political influence, especially under the Trump administration.

Related: Kristi Noem won’t say if gay asylum-seeker deported to El Salvador’s ‘hellhole’ prison is still alive

Hernández Romero had been awaiting an asylum hearing at Otay Mesa Detention Center when he was deported without warning in March, Toczylowski told The Advocate in April. His lawyers located him only after identifying him in footage posted by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, showing shackled Venezuelan men being marched off a U.S. military plane. A Time photographer said he cried out, “I’m gay! I’m a stylist!” before being taken away.

He is presumed to be inside CECOT, a supermax prison described as a modern-day gulag, where inmates are held incommunicado and often without charges. His legal team has received no confirmation of his condition or whereabouts.

“They’re dismissing this proceeding that exists in the United States while providing absolutely no information on how we can communicate with our clients and under what legal authority they’re being held at U.S. government expense in El Salvador,” Toczylowski told NBC News.

Tuesday’s ruling allows for the possibility of reopening the case — but only if Hernández Romero returns to the U.S., a step advocates say is nearly impossible under current conditions.

To raise awareness and funds, Crooked Media’s Jon Lovett and The Bulwark’s Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell are hosting a June 6 WorldPride fundraiser in Washington, D.C., called “Free Andry.” The live event will benefit Immigrant Defenders.