'Ghoulish': Trump DHS chief slammed over 'shocking' refusal to confirm deportee is alive

A prominent legal expert was horrified by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's inability to offer basic proof-of-life guarantees about a particular deportee of concern during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

Noem, who has dutifully overseen President Donald Trump's mass deportation plans while scrapping legal protections for whole classes of people, was already pressed to admit Trump had lied about gang symbols supposedly tattooed on the hand of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to the infamous Salvadoran CECOT megaprison despite having a protective order against his removal to that country.

But she was also grilled on the status of Andry Jose Hernandez, a gay 31-year-old makeup artist who sought asylum in the United States and had an appointment through lawful channels, only to be sent to CECOT himself. And when pressed by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) to provide any proof that Hernandez was even still alive, Noem deflected, saying only, "I don't know the specifics of this individual case."

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This answer floored American Immigration Council lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a frequent critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies.

"Ghoulish. She won't even agree to help a worried mother know whether her son is even alive," wrote Reichlin-Melnick on X. "Andry has been imprisoned without trial for 60 days, held incommunicado in CECOT as part of a deal where we handed [Salvadoran President Nayib] Bukele a metaphorical briefcase of cash to detain hundreds of people!"

"One other thing about this," he added. "@Sec_Noem claims that she knows nothing about Andry. I don't believe her — but if that's true, that is a SHOCKING admission. Andry's cases was highlighted on @60Minutes! And she didn't even get a briefing on it? Seriously?"