Disgraced US cop played key role in sending gay make-up artist to prison in El Salvador
“We have grave concerns about whether he can survive,” says Andry José Hernández Romero's lawyer of conditions at the maximum security prison
A former US cop with credibility issues was involved in sending José Hernández Romero, a gay make-up artist, to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, it has been reported.
Despite his dismissal from the force, ex-Milwaukee police officer Charles Cross, Jr. secured employment with CoreCivic, a private prison contractor that operates facilities for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It is claimed Cross signed a report alleging Romero’s affiliation with the Tren de Aragua gang based on the migrant’s tattoos, as per documents reviewed by USA Today.
The tattoos were in fact tributes to Romero’s parents.
Cross was fired as a Milwaukee police sergeant in 2012 after driving a car while intoxicated. He appealed the decision and resigned in the process, as per the department.
Cross has also been investigated for getting overtime pay for hours he allegedly hadn’t worked.
“We have grave concerns about whether he can survive”
Andry José Hernández Romero was one of 238 Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration on 15 March, CBS News previously reported.
This followed a deal brokered between President Trump and El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele allowing the US to send deportees to the central American’s country maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center.
“Our client, who was in the middle of seeking asylum, just disappeared. One day he was there, and the next day we’re supposed to have court, and he wasn’t brought to court,” Lindsay Toczylowski, Hernandez Romero’s lawyer, told CBS’s 60 Minutes.
“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.”
“We have grave concerns about whether he can survive,” Toczylowski added.
Hernández’s mother, Alexis Dolores Romero de Hernández, was quoted by The Guardian, saying: “Everyone has these crowns, many people. But that doesn’t mean they’re involved in the Tren de Aragua … He’s never had problems with the law.”
She continued: “Let my son go. Review his case file. He is not a gang member.”
Lawyers and family members for the deportees say they have had no contact with the prisoners since they were deported. However, TIME photojournalist Philip Holsinger, who has been reporting from the ground at CECOT, has reportedly described hearing one young man say, “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a stylist,” as he cried out for his mother, was slapped and had his head shaved.