New York’s Ritchie Torres donates to Andry Hernández Romero fund demanding freedom for gay asylum-seeker

Gay Afro-Latino U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres isn’t ambiguous about his support for an innocent gay man sent to a modern-day gulag in El Salvador.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

In a stark video released Wednesday, the New York Democrat condemned the Trump administration for deporting Andry José Hernández Romero — a 31-year-old gay asylum-seeker from Venezuela — to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison. “These aren’t gang signs,” Torres said, referring to the tattooed crowns on Hernández Romero’s arms that immigration authorities used to justify the deportation. “These are symbols of love, faith, and family.”