Kamlager-Dove Remarks at Press Event Calling for the Release of Eyvin Hernandez

Image

To watch the livestream of the press conference, click here.

“[Eyvin Hernandez] was vacationing in Colombia when a woman asked him for assistance with a passport issue.

It is believed that she took him close to the Venezuela-Colombia border.

He was then stopped by Venezuelan authorities, and once his U.S. citizenship was discovered, he was interrogated, captured, and detained.

He never intended to enter Venezuela.

He didn’t even know he was at risk of being captured.

And for over a year, he has been sitting in a cell treated as nothing more than a political pawn.

Eyvin Hernandez is my constituent. He is from Los Angeles. He is an angel from the City of Angels.

And it is time that we bring Eyvin home.

Shortly after I was inaugurated, I received a phone call from a very good friend of mine, Luan, who is here today.

And after winning an election, you would think that someone would call you and congratulate you.

Well she did, but she also said, ‘Can you bring my friend home? He’s been held hostage.'

Since then, I have been honored to work alongside the Bring Eyvin Home Coalition, his family, and his friends to advocate for his release.

I have walked the halls and the Floor talking about Eyvin to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle advocating for their support in helping to bring him home.

I’ve never met Eyvin Hernandez, but I know him through the love of his family and friends.

This morning I had the fortune of meeting with his dad and his cousin and his friends, and we laughed, and we cried, and we talked about Eyvin.

Eyvin represents the best of California’s 37th District.

He is a fierce advocate for justice as a Los Angeles County public defender.

He is a brilliant legal scholar.

He is compassionate, and he is a decent human being.

He has touched the lives of so many that went to school with him – that have mentored under him.

And if you can believe it, even though he has been wrongfully detained and is sitting in a Venezuelan prison, he is advocating on behalf of the other detainees who are in prison with him.

Eyvin Hernandez has been fighting his whole life for the most vulnerable, and it is time that we now fight for him.

Those who are wrongfully detained depend on people here at home to say their name and to fight for their release.

So we are saying his name – Eyvin Hernandez – and this bipartisan coalition is fighting for his release.

It is clear that efforts to bring Eyvin home have faced roadblocks.

It took over 7 months for him to be classified as wrongfully detained, and because of this, he was not able to participate in last Fall’s prisoner swap.

The Biden Administration and the State Department must do whatever it takes to bring him home.

We know that the State Department, and we know that the Administration, have a lot of tools in their tool kit. We are asking you to use them, use every tool, and then use it again – do what you can to bring Eyvin home.

I was proud to introduce a bipartisan resolution alongside Representatives Young Kim, Joaquin Castro, and Nanette Barragán to fight for Eyvin Hernandez’s release.

It asks the Biden Administration and the State Department to do all that they can to make sure that Eyvin Hernandez is brought home to his family.

Eyvin could be any of us. Eyvin could be any of our constituents, and he could be anyone’s child.

Eyvin Hernandez is the son of Pedro.

He is also the son of this country, and you would not leave your son.

You would not leave your child without doing all that you can to fight for his release.

That is what we are here today asking of – demanding of – the State Department and the Biden Administration to do: bring Eyvin home."

# # #