Eyvin Hernandez is a Salvadoran American lawyer who works in the

Los Angeles County Public Defender The Los Angeles County Public Defender's (LACPD) office is an agency of the government of Los Angeles County. LACPD was the first public defender agency in the United States. The current public defender is Ricardo García. It provides legal assi ...

's Office in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Hernandez is currently imprisoned in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

after being arrested by Venezuelan military agents in March 2022.

Early life and career

When Hernandez was a toddler, his parents fled the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...

and immigrated to the Los Angeles area. He went on to graduate from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

. After graduating from law school, Hernandez turned down lucrative jobs in the legal industry to work as a deputy public defender for the

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. In his role as a public defender, Hernandez represents indigent people and people who are experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles.

Arrest and detention

In the weeks before his arrest, Hernandez had traveled to Colombia where he had been several times previously. Before he was due home from his trip, he accompanied a friend to the border of

Norte de Santander Department North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a departments of Colombia, department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. North Santan ...

(

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

) and Táchira, Venezuela, a border area that is a dangerous region. Hernandez was arrested near this border by Venezuelan military agents on March 31 of 2022. Hernandez's family has maintained that he had no intention of entering Venezuela. Hernandez is charged with illegally entering the country, criminal association and conspiracy. These charges are punishable by up to sixteen years in prison. He is imprisoned in a maximum security prison in

Caracas, Venezuela Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Responses to detention

Hernandez's brother Henry Martinez told the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

: “My entire family deeply misses my brother. He has worked his entire career serving marginalized people and he is truly the best of us. We hope and pray that Eyvin can return home very soon from this mistaken arrest.” Martinez appeared on

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

News and called on members of the United States government to do more to secure the release of his brother. The family has asked for the U.S. Government to do more to bring Eyvin home. Hernandez's family is a part of the

Bring Our Families Home Bring Our Families Home (BOFH) is a campaign by family members of American hostages and wrongfully held detainees advocating for their immediate release. The James Foley Legacy Foundation estimates that there are approximately sixty Americans who ...

campaign which advocates to bring home wrongful detainees and hostages. His image is featured in a 15-foot mural in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad. In April, the State Department issued a travel advisory about threats to Americans along the Venezuela-Colombia border. Later, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

confirmed the arrest of U.S. Citizens in Venezuela and issued the following statement: "We take seriously our commitment to assist US citizens abroad. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment." A U.S. Official told

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major multimedia news agency in Spanish language and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was created in 1939 ...

that they are following the situation closely and remain in communication with the family. Many in the U.S. government fear that Hernandez and other Americans are being used as political bargaining chips. In July, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...

aiming to deter and punish those responsible for the wrongful detention of American citizens abroad. The State Department also issued an advisory that American citizens are at risk of wrongful detention in Venezuela. On October 4, 2022, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion urging county congressional officials and the White House to secure Eyvin's release. In October 2022, the State Department designated Eyvin as “wrongfully detained” and placed his case under the jurisdiction of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA).

Personal life

Hernandez has a history of

labor activism The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

and enjoys

Salsa music Salsa music is a style of Latin American music. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montun ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Eyvin Living people Year of birth missing (living people) UCLA School of Law alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Criminal defense lawyers Public defenders Lawyers from Los Angeles American people imprisoned abroad Salvadoran people of American descent Prisoners and detainees of Venezuela