The anguished family of a Trump deportee shipped off to a brutal prison in El Salvador four months ago is begging the administration for any sign that he might still be alive.
Andry José Hernández Romero, 32, had applied for asylum in the United States, "citing the conditions he faced as a gay man and political dissident in Venezuela," according to reporting in Salon.
Romero's attorney told Salon that he had "applied for asylum the right way — by scheduling an appointment and presenting himself at a port of entry — and yet was languishing behind bars" at a privately-run prison along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Then, suddenly, Romero was "disappeared to El Salvador" without a word to his family or his legal team, according to Melissa Shepard, legal services director at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
Shepard said the only way anyone knew that Romero was sent to the infamous CECOT prison in El Salvador "was because of the Time photographer who was there when the men first arrived."
"Still, to this day, the government has not provided any concrete evidence as to why he was specifically taken,” Shepard said. “I think, unfortunately, he probably just fit the profile of a young Venezuelan man who had some tattoos that they could use for this, essentially, mass propaganda.”
She continued, "What we’re seeing now is just a cruel, cruel agenda being carried out...[and] I think it is much bigger than just trying to remove or deter people from coming to the United States.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) tried to get answers from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem during a hearing in May, asking, “Would you commit to just letting his mother know, as a mother to mother, if Andry is alive?”
According to Salon, Noem "professed ignorance ('I don’t know the specifics of this individual case') and forswore responsibility ('This individual is in El Salvador,' so take it up with them')."
Garcia's office also tried to get answers from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but told Salon that it has "received no updates."