# What This Resolution Actually Does

This is a congressional resolution calling on the Venezuelan government to release Eyvin Hernandez, a Los Angeles public defender who has been imprisoned in Venezuela since March 2022. Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, was captured near the Colombia-Venezuela border and transferred to Venezuela, where he's been held on charges of criminal association and conspiracy that could result in 16 years in prison. The resolution emphasizes that the U.S. State Department has officially designated his detention as wrongful, meaning there's no legitimate legal basis for holding him.

The resolution doesn't create new laws or direct government action—it's essentially Congress on record saying the Venezuelan regime should let him go. It calls on President Biden and his administration officials, including the Secretary of State and the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, to keep pushing Venezuela for Hernandez's release. The resolution also condemns Venezuela's pattern of detaining American citizens for political purposes and expresses support for all Americans wrongfully held abroad.

For everyday people, this matters because it highlights an ongoing diplomatic problem: Americans can be arbitrarily detained by hostile foreign governments without legitimate charges or fair trials. While this resolution won't directly free Hernandez, it puts official congressional pressure on the Biden administration to prioritize his case and signals that Congress is paying attention to how Americans are being treated in Venezuelan prisons. It's one tool among many—like diplomatic negotiations and prisoner exchanges—that the U.S. uses to try to bring wrongfully detained citizens home.

Calling for the immediate release of Eyvin Hernandez, a United States citizen and Los Angeles County public defender, who was wrongfully detained by the Venezuelan regime in March 2022.

Kamlager-Dove, Sydney

 <p class="MsoNormal">This resolution calls on the government of Venezuela to immediately release Eyvin Hernandez, a U.S. citizen and Los Angeles County public defender, from unjust imprisonment. The resolution urges the President and other U.S. government officials to continue raising the Eyvin Hernandez case to Venezuela and to press for his immediate release. The resolution also expresses support for all American citizens wrongfully detained in Venezuela.</p>