Venezuelan immigrant sent to El Salvador’s notorious prison files $1.3M lawsuit against Trump admin

A Venezuelan man sent to El Salvador’s notoriously brutal CECOT prison filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday.

Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel was arrested on March 13, 2025 – his birthday – in Texas, deported from the United States and flown to CECOT with dozens of other immigrants on now infamous flights.

His family didn’t know the whereabouts of Leon Rengel for weeks, who told NBC News they got different answers from authorities when they tried to find him. NBC News confirmed he was sent to CECOT and informed his brother who was looking for him.

In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Leon Rengel, 28, alleges loss of liberty, physical injury, severe emotional stress and lasting psychological trauma as a result of his detention, removal and imprisonment at CECOT.

“For four months, plaintiff languished at CECOT, during which time he was beaten by guards, subjected to inhumane overcrowded conditions as well as extreme psychological trauma, deprived of adequate medical care, and detained without contact with his family or any attorney,” the lawsuit states.

Rengel was released July 18 and returned to Venezuela with more than 250 other Venezuelan immigrants as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the United States and Venezuela, the lawsuit says.

CECOT is a mega-prison in El Salvador where human rights groups have documented serious abuses and extreme conditions. The Trump administration signed a $6 million deal with El Salvador to accept people deported from the United States, largely Venezuelans.

Hundreds of immigrants, many of whom received legal government permission to enter the United States, were expelled from the country after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act last March. At the time, the administration claimed that the immigrants sent to CECOT were members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

Some deportations were filmed and captured on footage showing men in underwear or prison garb, chained and bent at the waist. Some families learned that their loved ones were among those sent to CECOT thanks to these images.

Many family members have disputed the allegations about gang members, including Leon Rengel’s brother. The suit says ICE agents told Leon Rengel that his tattoos indicated his gang affiliation, but that Leon Rengel “never had any affiliation with TdA or any other gang.”

Leon Rengel’s lawsuit says he entered the United States on June 12, 2023, arriving at a port of entry in El Paso, Texas, after showing up for an appointment made through the CBP One program under the Biden administration. He underwent examinations and provided biometric data, the suit states. He was awaiting an immigration court hearing in 2028 when he was arrested in Irving, Texas, on his way to work, according to the lawsuit.

The suit alleges that ICE agents ignored Leon Rengel’s documents confirming his current case and that he had a pending application for temporary protected status.

As he sat handcuffed and shackled on a plane in Harlingen, Texas, Leon Rengel thought he would return to Venezuela because that’s what the officers told him, according to the lawsuit.

But he became concerned when the plane’s windows were closed and detainees were asked not to look out, according to the lawsuit.

When the plane landed in El Salvador, some detainees protested and refused to get off the plane, the complaint states. The Salvadoran officers intervened two by two, beating the detainees and forcing them off the plane, it is said. Leon Rengel saw inmates being thrown down the stairs, according to the lawsuit.

“Whether invoking the AEA was lawful or not, the Administration designed and implemented unlawful enforcement mechanisms to expedite the unwarranted detention and removal of Venezuelan immigrants like Plaintiff based on their national origin,” the lawsuit says in part, using an acronym to refer to the Alien Enemies Act.

The lawsuit says it was filed to “systematically deny this category of people due process and judicial review, and – ultimately – to spread a narrative of maximum punishment through its unprecedented agreement with El Salvador.”

The White House, Departments of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.