Gay makeup guy

Then he started praying and calling out, literally crying for his mother."

— Photojournalist Philip Holsinger on Andry José Hernández Romero. Earlier this month, it was revealed Andry Hernandez Romero trekked north through Darien Gap, which is a roadless dense forest stretch between Colombia and Panama, to Mexico. He couldn't help himself.

“The most plausible explanation for that is that his mom and dad are his king and queen.”

"He was being slapped every time he would speak up. “I’m not a gang member. pic.twitter.com/4II7NTMKM9

— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) April 7, 2025

Andry Hernandez Romero was deported last year

The Venezuelan migrant in question made headlines again this week after the New York Post exclusively broke claims that he had been deported once before.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, also noted that even experts have said that tattoos are “not a reliable indicator of whether you’re part of this particular gang.” Crime analysts suggested that though members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang can be identified by the means of signature tattoos but the same can be said for Tren De Aragua.

Tricia is lying.

Dedicated to his mother and father, their names adorned in crowns. He is believed to have used the CBP One phone app under the Joe Biden regime to enter the US.

Back in Venezuela, the makeup artist worked at the state-run TV station. — A gay makeup artist who was deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador under a wartime law by the Trump administration has been reunited with his family in Venezuela.

Andry Jose Hernandez Romero had tears as he was reunited with his parents in Capacho Nuevo, Venezuela, Wednesday morning.
“His entire town was waiting for him, preparing a meal,” said Melissa Shepard, the director of legal services at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center.

Romero was detained under the Biden administration after he entered the San Diego border legally last summer to claim asylum using the CBP One app.

He claimed he feared for his life due to his sexual orientation and opposition to the authoritarian Venezuelan government.

“This regime forces people to publicly speak in favor of them and when Andry refused to do so, he was persecuted,” Shepard said in an interview from Los Angeles.

In March, the Trump administration deported Romero and more than 200 other Venezuelan men to a notorious prison in El Salvador called the Terrorism Confinement Center by enacting the wartime Alien Enemies Act.

Ariana Cubillos/AP

The government claimed the detainees were all members of the Tren de Aragua gang, but critics, including some lawmakers, said the administration failed to provide concrete evidence to substantiate that claim.

In Romero’s case, a CBP officer suspected the 31-year-old was a gang member after seeing tattoos on his body.

After he was deported, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said the government uses more than just tattoos to determine someone’s affiliation with a criminal network.

“This man’s own social media indicates he is a member of Tren de Aragua,” she said in a reply to a post about Romero.

Romero, who worked at a TV station as a makeup artist, denied he was a member of Tren de Aragua.

The posts are all about his career as a make up artist.… https://t.co/t2SOX1mFqk pic.twitter.com/jXippmOP2R

— ✨🪩Raquel🪩✨ (@eternallyRaq) April 7, 2025

What more do we know about Andry Hernandez Romero’s personal life

Hernandez’s close childhood friend Reina Cardenas said that while growing up in Venezuela he discovered an early love for theatre, costume design and makeup, according to NBC News.

The case is likely reach the Supreme Court, according to PBS.

© 2025 Latin Times.

Jose Manuel Mora, yet another friends of Morero’s, who is a tattoo artist, applied his crown tattoos. The tattoos? “It’s horrifying to see someone who we’ve met and know as a sweet, funny artist, in the most horrible conditions I could imagine… We have grave concerns about whether he can survive,” she said, as quoted by CBS News.

“These are tattoos that not only have a plausible explanation because he is someone who worked in the beauty pageant industry, but also the crowns themself were on top of the names of his parents,” Toczylowski said. Donald Trump and his team sent Andry Hernandez Romero to rot in an El Salvador prison because he’s Latino. He wept for his mother as he was slapped and his head shaved.

Lindsay Toczylowski, Hernandez Romero’s lawyer, said that her client was “in the middle of seeking asylum” when he just disappeared and ultimately missed a court hearing in the US.

The attorney now fears for his well-being, especially given his sexual orientation. He would also participate in his small town’s annual festival for Three Kings Day. His family has since said that the tattoos were a symbol of the festival.

This festival in question has been a century-old tradition in Romero’s hometown of Capacho in western Venezuela.

Shepard said the tattoos are Three Kings paying homage to Jesus.

The Immigrant Defenders Law Center is representing eight men in total who were deported to the notorious prison in El Salvador, including two workers who were arrested in Imperial County.

Ariana Cubillos/AP

“They were physically and verbally and psychologically tortured for 125 days,” Shepard said.

Romero still had a pending asylum case when he was taken from the Otay Mesa Detention Center and later deported to El Salvador.
“This is completely uncharted territory for everybody involved.”

Shepard said after Romero was sent to El Salvador, the government dismissed his asylum case, and an immigration judge sided with the Trump administration.

Ariana Cubillos/AP

“This is completely uncharted territory for everybody involved,” Shepard said.

The Immigrant Defenders Law Center is appealing, arguing that Romero’s right to the asylum process is being denied.

Shepard said the non-profit law center is determined to hold the government accountable and alleged the Trump administration violated the Constitution and international asylum laws.

“These men survived 125 days in a torture prison, and we don't believe that anybody else should have to suffer the same fate.”

Gay Makeup Artist Deported After ICE Claimed His 'Mom' Tattoo Was 'Consistent' With Gang Activity: Court Docs