Venezuelan makeup artist who was deported to El Salvador seeks asylum in Spain: ‘I feel safe here’

<p>Andry José Hernández Romero was deported from the US to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison before he was allowed to return to Venezuela</p><p>One of the Venezuelan men <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/deportation-alleged-gang-members-el-salvador">sent from the US</a> to El Salvador’s most notorious prison by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump">Donald Trump</a> has moved to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/spain">Spain</a> to request asylum after concluding that he did not feel safe back home and did not trust US authorities sufficiently to return to fight his legal case.</p><p>Andry José Hernández Romero left <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/venezuela">Venezuela</a> for Spain in early February and is due for his first asylum hearing in court there in a few days, hoping that the country’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/feb/27/has-immigration-turbocharged-spain-economy-podcast">liberal approach</a> to immigration will afford him kinder treatment than the US or his own country had provided him, he revealed to the Guardian in his first interview since leaving for Europe.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/22/venezuelan-makeup-artist-cecot-spain-asylum">Continue reading...</a>