• Hernandez alleges torture, abuse in El Salvador’s CECOT prison
  • Trump used Alien Enemies Act for deportation, sparking legal battles
  • Concerns for Hernandez’s safety in Venezuela due to LGBTQ persecution

CAPACHO, Venezuela, July 23 (Reuters) - A makeup artist who became the face of more than 250 Venezuelan migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador’s most notorious prison arrived home to his family on Wednesday after what he described as “an encounter with torture and death.”

Andry Hernandez, 32, and the other detainees returned to Venezuela on Friday as part of a prisoner exchange, after spending four months in El Salvador’s CECOT prison, where they and the Venezuelan government allege they were beaten, shot with rubber projectiles, held in dark cells, and served rotten food.