Joe Rogan has voiced concerns about the Trump administration’s deportation practices after learning a man was sent to what’s considered one of the world’s most dangerous prisons without proper investigation.
Despite endorsing Trump for president just five months ago, the podcast host has now criticized the Republican’s team following what he called a “horrific” revelation regarding mass deportations to El Salvador.
During a conversation with political commentator Konstantin Kisin on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan expressed outrage upon learning that a reportedly innocent hairdresser was among hundreds deported to CECOT, El Salvador’s notorious maximum-security “mega-prison.”
The individual in question, 31-year-old Venezuelan Andry José Hernández Romero, was legally seeking asylum in the United States after experiencing severe discrimination in Venezuela for his sexual orientation. Border authorities detained him because of crown tattoos on his wrists with the words “Mum” and “Dad” – markings officials associated with the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua,” despite Hernández Romero’s insistence he had no gang affiliations.
Without receiving a trial to establish innocence, Hernández Romero was transported to CECOT where he now faces indefinite detention alongside dangerous criminals. Discussing this case, Rogan remarked: “You got to get scared that people who are not criminals are getting lassoed up and deported and sent to El Salvador prisons.”
When Kisin observed that placing someone “in a country he’s never been, in a maximum security prison with gang members, seems like a bad thing,” Rogan agreed emphatically: “It’s horrific, it’s horrific… This is kind of crazy that that could be possible.” He added that while removing gang members might be supported broadly, “let’s not [let] innocent gay hairdressers get lumped up with the gangs,” before questioning whether authorities had any process to correct such mistakes.
The controversy intensified on March 15 when President Trump allegedly disregarded a court order by proceeding with the deportation of over 200 suspected Venezuelan gang members to Central America. Though US District Judge James E. Boasberg had temporarily suspended these deportations, the administration reportedly informed him the flights were already in progress, prompting the judge to verbally order their return.
The aircraft reportedly continued to El Salvador nonetheless, with President Nayib Bukele later taunting the California judge via Twitter with the message: “Oopsie…Too late.” White House secretary Karoline Leavitt subsequently released a statement asserting that the Trump administration “did not refuse to comply with a court order.”