WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Yassamain Ansari (AZ-03), along with Reps. Robert Garcia (CA-42), Mark Takano (CA-39),Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and California Senator Adam Schiff sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to continue to demand access to Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan national who claimed asylum in the United States and is now imprisoned at the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), the maximum-security prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador.
The letter can be found here.
“I am proud to join my colleagues in continuing to speak out for due process and human rights for those wrongly imprisoned in El Salvador’s CECOT—including individuals like Andry José Hernández Romero, who sought refuge in the U.S. after being targeted for his sexuality in his home country,” said Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari. “No one should be denied safety. We call on the Trump Administration to immediately bring home those who have been wrongfully deported.”
“Everyone in this country is entitled to due process and fair treatment under the law. Andry Romero must be released immediately,” said Congressman Robert Garcia. “Andry was deported with no warning and no opportunity to defend himself, and now, no one has heard from him – not even his family or lawyers. We are demanding the U.S. government take action to correct this horrible error. We won’t stop until Andry’s whereabouts and wellbeing have been confirmed and he is released back to the United States.”
“Andry Hernández is an asylum seeker trying to seek safety and protection in the United States. If the government can disappear and send him to a prison in El Salvador without due process, then no one is safe. It’s a chilling reminder that due process isn’t optional — it’s guaranteed under our Constitution for everyone. We will continue to push back against the administration’s inhumane actions so that Andry is reunited with his family and loved ones,” said Senator Adam Schiff
“As the son and grandson of Japanese Americans who were rounded up and forced into camps without due process, I know all too well that Andry is not the first person to be unjustly taken by the government of the United States,” said Congressman Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “Every American should be alarmed by how the Trump Administration is taking people off the street and locking them away in a foreign prison without so much as a day in court like it’s normal, acceptable, or legal when it is absolutely not. We must continue to put pressure on the Administration to release Andry, as well as others who were disappeared to a supermax prisons on foreign soil, and respect our Constitution’s guarantee of due process.”
“Andry Hernandez Romero presented himself legally at a port of entry and has a credible asylum case and no criminal record. There is absolutely no justification for his detention in El Salvador,” said Congressman Seth Magaziner. “It is critical that Andry receive a wellness check, have access to legal counsel, and be released without delay.”
During a May hearing in the Committee on Homeland Security, Congressman Garcia directly pressed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to commit to facilitating a wellness check for Andry, who refused.
While traveling to El Salvador in April, Congressman Garcia sent his first letter to Secretary Marco Rubio and Ambassador William Duncan, demanding access to Andry. The letter was prompted by a productive meeting with U.S. Ambassador Duncan, who then sent a formal inquiry to the Salvadoran government on the well-being of Romero. This was the first instance the U.S. embassy has raised questions about the well-being of any illegally-deported Venezuelan. Congressman Garcia sent two other letters in April, demanding answers about Andry’s deportation from ICE and CoreCivic.
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