A Democratic-led coalition has written a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding access to Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan national who was in the process of seeking asylum when he was forcibly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned at a controversial maximum-security prison in that country.

Leading the charge on the letter are U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), along with U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), and Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.).

Forty-four additional members of Congress have also signed on. 

Hernández Romero, a makeup artist and costume designer, fled his home country last year to seek asylum in the United States due to harassment and threats he received as an openly gay man and his political beliefs, including opposition to the authoritarian government’s human rights abuses.

As an asylum seeker, the 32-year-old went through the process to schedule an asylum appointment through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app. Upon arriving in the United States on August 29, 2024, he presented himself at a legal port of entry — the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico — for his appointment. He was taken into custody and passed a credible fear interview.

Following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, the Trump administration canceled the CBP One app and any scheduled appointments that had been made.

In March, while Hernández Romero was in custody awaiting a court hearing, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act as the legal basis for deporting hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador.

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Those deported were reportedly imprisoned at Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a maximum-security prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, that is infamous for housing dangerous criminals, as well as alleged torture and human rights abuses.

As previously reported by CNN, Hernández Romero was allegedly suspected of being part of the violent Tren de Aragua gang due to his tattoos — a crown on each wrist and a snake on his forearm. His family and friends insist that the tattoos — which also bear the names of his parents — refer to the traditional “Reyes Magos de Capacho” festival in his hometown of Nuevo Capacho, Venezuela, a cultural event in which Hernández Romero had participated in since age 7.

His deportation has alarmed U.S. politicians, who have argued that asylum seekers are entitled to due process and should be allowed to argue their cases and present evidence before having their claims rejected. Several protests have been held against Hernández Romero’s deportation, including one organized by the Human Rights Campaign outside the Supreme Court.

In their letter to Rubio, the coalition of Democratic lawmakers asked for a wellness check on Hernández Romero, while also noting that there are legitimate reasons for why, as a gay man, he was seeking asylum.

“Mr. Hernández Romero’s family and lawyers have had no contact with him in more than a month. His mother does not even know whether he is alive. Given both the well-documented concerns about conditions at CECOT and the history of anti-LGBTQI+ persecution in El Salvador, there is serious cause for concern about Mr. Hernández Romero’s well-being,” the letter reads. 

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“No mother should have to worry that their child will be forcibly disappeared from the United States without due process, or whether their son is even alive and healthy because of the actions of the United States government,” the letter continues.

In an interview with Metro Weekly, Congressman Robert Garcia explained how lawmakers are attempting to demand accountability from the Trump administration. 

“We want to make sure that we are making it very clear that what happened to Andry is not acceptable and shouldn’t be happening in the U.S., and in fact, is denying someone of their due process rights,” Garcia said. 

“Andy received an asylum appointment by the United States government, by us, and at the end of that process, he then gets taken to a foreign prison that’s not even in his home country,” the congressman continued. “He was leaving Venezuela because he was persecuted for being gay according to him and his family. There’s no evidence of him having any former gang affiliations or criminal activity. We want him to be able to have due process rights, and we want a welfare check on him.

“We have no idea how he’s doing,” he said of Hernández Romero’s imprisonment at CECOT. “It’s been over 80 days. His family just wants to know that he’s alive. The last proof of life we had is when he was being sent to that prison, and we saw those horrible pictures of him in that prison, and that’s been it.”

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Garcia told Metro Weekly that, as stories of LGBTQ resilience and fighting back against oppression are being shared as part of the history of Pride Month, it’s important to inform the public of Hernández Romero’s story and the Trump administration’s efforts to “disappear” people suspected of being in the country illegally, without due process.

When asked about arguments defending the Trump administration’s deportation policies or opposing asylum on principle, Garcia said Hernández Romero’s case stands apart from most.

“We need to be a country that’s fair and that actually implements our laws the right way,” he said. “It’s one thing to have an opinion that if you are here and you are undocumented that you should be deported — and I have my own personal opinions about the system and the process — but that’s your opinion.

“That’s not what happened in this case though. What happened here is we invited Andy to come and apply for an asylum case, and then, without any sort of opportunity or ability to go through a process or for him to return to his home country, we sent him to a foreign prison. That is uniquely shameful and disturbing.”

Garcia questioned why — other than for political posturing — the Trump administration is not granting asylum seekers due process. He also pledged to hold Trump administration officials — including Rubio — accountable in oversight hearings, in the press, and by applying political pressure by galvanizing the public around Hernández Romero’s story. 

“We’re very aware of, and we’re very limited by, the fact they’re the ones that control the government and the Department of Homeland Security and have cut these, what we think are, corrupt and illegal deals with El Salvador,” he said . “So we’ve got to continue to highlight his story, and the more that people are aware, the more that pressure builds.”

An immigration judge granted the Department of Homeland Security’s motion to dismiss Hernández Romero’s case on May 29. However, Garcia noted that the 32-year-old remains a plaintiff in a pending class-action lawsuit challenging Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportations.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration resuming deportations under the act, and several federal courts have temporarily blocked the use of the law as justification for the deportations.

“Andry’s legal case is still very much alive,” Garcia said. “There’s an active case right now looking at a variety of different asylum seekers and folks that have been wrongly deported. And so there is still a legal pathway that is still active, and we’re allowing his lawyers and the ACLU take the lead on that.

“I think our responsibility in Congress is to just demand answers,” he added. “We’ve been asked to do everything we can to get a proof of life on Andry, which is what we’re focused on and trying to work through and just trying to make people aware of his story. The more that people are aware of his story, the more pressure and the more it builds, and so that’s I think really important at this moment.”