A Venezuelan asylum seeker who fled from his homeland due to fear of his safety was deported to El Salvador, his lawyer said.
Andri Hernandez, an outspoken critic of the Venezuelan government, who is also gay, sought asylum in the United States for fear of persecution in his home country.
The 31-year-old was deported to a mega prison in El Salvador last weekend. This claimed that the Trump administration belonged to Venezuelan gang Tren de Lagua.
Hernandez’s lawyers denied that Hernandez had a gang affiliation.
“He’s actually a make-up artist,” said Melissa Shepherd of the Immigration Defenders Low Center. “The history of his photography provides background information about his love for art and is absolutely not related to any type of gangster.”
Shepherd said that if Hernandez stayed in Venezuela, he came to the United States because he believed that his life would be in danger.
Hernandez, who has no criminal history, came to the United States with the appointment of immigrants in exile when he was first taken into custody, his lawyers said.
NBC Los Angeles was unable to independently confirm his lawyer’s claims. The US immigration and customs enforcement agency did not respond to requests for comment on the case.
The Trump administration last week summoned the rarely used alien enemy law of 1798. This will allow the president to deport non-citizens during wartime.
Some families and lawyers said some immigrants were falsely accused and targeted for tattoos, but Hernandez’s lawyer said his decorative tattoos had sentimental meaning.
“Some of the tattoos he has are flowers and are dedicated to his parents,” Shepherd said.
The lawyer added that Andry had no final order to deport him and would not rely on him to return to the United States to continue his asylum hearing or return to his hometown of Venezuela.
“They haven’t confirmed with us exactly where he is,” Shepherd said. “They said he was in El Salvador.
In a statement to NBC News, the White House said “we are confident in the intelligence report evaluation (from the Department of Homeland Security) regarding the affiliation of these gangs and their criminality,” adding that Venezuelan immigrants who were fired had a final deportation order.
The Trump administration has not released any evidence that those sent to El Salvador have criminal history or gang ties.
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