WATCH: Gay Venezuelan Asylum Seeker Wrongfully Deported to El Salvador

By Allison Bloom, Communications Consultant/GLAAD

Andry Hernández Romero, a 31-year-old gay asylum seeker from Venezuela, is among the hundreds of migrants who have been forcibly detained and sent to El Salvador’s maximum-security “mega-prison” under the Trump administration’s use of the rarely invoked Alien Enemies Act, according to a report highlighted by GLAAD and CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Hernández Romero, a makeup artist, fled Venezuela in May of last year after being targeted for his sexual orientation and political views. He legally entered the United States at a border crossing and was undergoing asylum processing, including a credible fear interview. According to his attorney, Lindsay Toczylowski, the U.S. government found his claims credible and acknowledged he had a strong chance of being granted asylum.

Despite this, Hernández Romero was detained without notice to his legal team and deported to El Salvador last month without due process. He is now being held in the Center for Terrorism Confinement, one of the largest and highest-security prisons in the world, built to detain alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

“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,” Toczylowski told 60 Minutes.

A photographer for TIME Magazine, Philip Holsinger, identified Hernández Romero at the prison. He reported hearing him say, “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a stylist.” Holsinger said Hernández Romero cried for his mother while being slapped and having his head shaved.

Toczylowski said her client was likely targeted because of two crown tattoos on his arms—symbols that have been used to allege gang affiliation. She explained the tattoos represent his parents, with the crowns positioned above their names, and are connected to his work in the beauty pageant industry.

Despite experts warning that tattoos are not reliable indicators of gang membership, other Venezuelan migrants have reportedly been detained under similar circumstances, including a soccer player with a crown tattoo on a ball.

Since the implementation of the Alien Enemies Act during President Trump’s second term, the United States has deported 238 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, labeling them terrorists or violent gang members. According to 60 Minutes, at least 75 percent of those individuals have no criminal record.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, questioned the legality of the deportations, noting that the Alien Enemies Act had not been used since World War II and never to send people to third countries.

“The last time the Alien Enemies Act was enacted, we sent people back to their home country. We didn’t send them to a foreign prison,” Gelernt said.

Several members of Congress have voiced concern since the April 6 60 Minutes broadcast. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., is scheduled to visit the prison to advocate for the release of another detainee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is reportedly planning a similar visit.

“There’s a real danger that they remain there,” Gelernt said of the detainees.