US Edition
Migrant sent to El Salvador prison by the Trump administration says he was beaten by guards
EL SALVADOR, JUL 25 – More than 250 Venezuelans were deported under the Alien Enemies Act without hearings, with reports of torture and abuse prompting investigations by Venezuelan authorities.
- Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan asylum seeker and makeup artist, was deported to El Salvador's maximum-security CECOT prison in 2024 and released on July 18, 2025, as part of a prisoner swap.
- His deportation followed the Trump administration's use of the rarely applied Alien Enemies Act to expel over 250 Venezuelans, alleging ties to the gang Tren de Aragua despite scant evidence in Hernández Romero's case.
- During around four months at CECOT, known as a harsh terrorism confinement center, detainees were crowded in Module 8, sleeping on tin beds, receiving minimal food, and facing beatings, rubber bullet shootings, isolation in dark cells, and two inmate revolts.
- Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab announced an investigation into Salvadoran officials, including President Bukele, over alleged abuses against Venezuelan nationals, while the U.S. DHS dismissed claims, calling deportees 'criminal, illegal gang members'.
- Hernández Romero reunited with his family in Venezuela on July 23, 2025, after his release contributed to freeing over 200 detainees, signaling potential diplomatic shifts but leaving concerns about future treatment of asylum seekers.
16 Articles
16 Articles
It was the worst 125 days of his life: locked up in a foreign prison, supposedly subjected to torture, never knowing when or even if he would ever get out.
Gay makeup artist deported from US describes sexual and physical abuse in El Salvador prison
A gay makeup artist who spent 125 days in a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador has spoken about the alleged sexual and physical abuse he experienced while detained. Andry Hernández Romero was one of over 250 Venezuelan men deported from the US while seeking asylum and sent to CECOT, a terrorism confinement centre, without any….
The hell of Module 8 in Nayib Bukele’s mega-prison: ‘They would beat us over anything’
Several of the Venezuelans who were sent back home from the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador were left with scars on their wrists and ankles. Kneeling with their hands behind their backs or walking crouched down with their hands and feet in handcuffs was part of the daily routine during their four months in President Nayib Bukele’s mega-jail. The Donald Trump administration had sent them there, resorting to an old law against …
Associated Press News
Migrant sent to El Salvador prison by the Trump administration says he was beaten by guards
A migrant from Venezuela deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador has taken the first step toward suing the U.S. government.
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