SACROMENTO – California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote a letter Thursday to Homeland Security Secretary Christa Noem.
Hernandez Romero, a 31-year-old gay makeup artist, has legally sought asylum for his sexuality and opposition to Venezuela’s ruling party.
“Even though he has no criminal history, he has been denied the opportunity to protect himself from unfounded allegations of gang involvement, or to present his asylum claim,” Newsmom wrote to Noem.
The incident sparked public attention and criticism of the Trump administration over allegations that innocent immigrants who had legally entered the United States were detained and deported without justification in a campaign that said they aimed at removing gang members from the country under the Foreign Enemy Act of 1798.
“We are not a country that sends people to be tortured and victimized in foreign prisons for a public relations victory,” Newsom wrote to Noem. “We encourage everyone under the control of the US judicial and law enforcement system, including those that were mistakenly sent to El Salvador, as required by federal law, to reassess your policies and ensures legitimate procedures.”
Hernández Romero appeared in his first asylum appointment in August at San Isidro’s port of entry. Border Patrol agents claimed that his crown tattoo proved his affiliation with the Tren de Aragua gang. He was detained in Otaymesa for several months before being deported to El Salvador in March along with more than 250 other immigrants.
Hernandez Romero’s lawyer and family claim that he is innocent and not a gang member.
“I think he was caught up in the government agenda of trying to end his asylum. I think he was probably a simple target for the fact that he had tattoos,” said Melissa Shepherd, one of the lawyers for the Los Angeles Immigration Defence Corps.
His tattoos are a tribute to his art, his family and his long-standing participation in the annual Three Kings Day celebration, performing in his hometown of Venezuela. “Mom” and “Daddy” are tattooed under the crown, Shepherd said.
Shepherd said he has no criminal history in the United States or Venezuela. His legal team said he has strong claims about asylum, but they are navigating “unknown territory.”
“We had no clients who disappeared midway through the proceedings and we didn’t give him his legitimate procedure to see his asylum case,” Shepherd said.
The Trump administration has defended Hernandez Romero’s deportation. Homeland Security spokesman Tricia McLaughlin claims in a post on social media platform X that “DHS intelligence ratings go way beyond gang affiliate tattoos.”
“The man’s own social media shows that he is a member of Tren de Aragua,” McLaughlin said.
Prominent podcaster and Trump supporter Joe Logan called the situation “terrifying” on his show. Logan said it hurts the president’s cause when “innocent gay hairdressers come together with the gang.”
In his letter to Noem, Newsom said he wrote to express his concern that deporting people without legitimate procedures is a “a dangerous precedent that threatens to irreparably taint the Department of Homeland Security and the country’s reputation.”
“Hernandez Romero should be immediately returned to the United States for an immigration judge to assess the merits of his case,” Newsom said.
According to Newsom, California has a “vested interest” in the issue of immigration as a “state that has thrived and prospered for nearly 175 years due to its vibrant immigrant community and the rule of law.”
The governor traveled to El Salvador in 2019 and said he was intended to help him better understand the forces driving immigrants from the Central American country to the United States at the time.
Newsom met with President Salvador Salvador Sanchez Seren during his trip and sat separately with his successor Naibubuquere.
As president, Bukere was on his side in Trump’s efforts to deport immigrants in his second term. Bukere agreed to accept migrants who were accused of being members of the gang during a massive deportation event in March.
Trump openly thanked Bukere, who is scheduled to visit the White House on Monday.
The Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo prison in El Salvador, where Hernandez Romero is being held, is “notorious for its human rights violations,” Shepherd said.
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