In a surprising prisoner swap, more than 250 Venezuelan immigrants were released from El Salvador’s mega-prison CECOT in exchange for 10 Americans and U.S. permanent residents who were in Venezuelan custody. The three-country deal comes over three months after the Trump administration rounded up the Venezuelan immigrants and sent them to El Salvador without due process, even though many of them had open asylum cases in the U.S. Among those freed in the exchange is Andry Hernández Romero, a 33-year-old gay makeup artist who was wrongfully accused of being a gang member by the Trump administration over two crown tattoos he has on each arm with the words “mom” and “dad.” The freed Americans include 37-year-old Lucas Hunter, who had been in Venezuelan custody since late last year.
This comes as advocates in El Salvador continue to demand the release of tens of thousands of Salvadorans detained at CECOT and other prisons without access to due process under President Nayib Bukele’s so-called state of emergency. Many have been tortured in police custody.