Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 28, who was deported from the United States and detained in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison last year, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking at least $1.3 million in damages. The suit, brought in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the first known case by a former CECOT detainee seeking money from the U.S. government.
Leon Rengel says he and other Venezuelan men deported in March 2025 were held incommunicado in CECOT for roughly four months and suffered widespread physical and psychological abuse. In an interview, he described constant beatings by guards, drinking the same water used for bathing, threats that he would be imprisoned for 90 years and a period when he contemplated suicide. His complaint alleges false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Human Rights Watch investigators and reporting by CBS News and “60 Minutes” have documented similar allegations from other deportees — including physical abuse, overcrowded and inhumane conditions, inadequate medical care and instances the researchers described as torture and arbitrary detention. Many detainees have also reported sexual assault.
The lawsuit says Leon Rengel “languished in CECOT” and was denied contact with family or legal counsel. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Democracy Defenders Fund supported the filing; LULAC CEO Juan Proaño called the treatment “government-sanctioned torture” and said Leon Rengel deserves his day in court. An administrative complaint on his behalf was filed with the Department of Homeland Security last year.
The men were among several hundred Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a wartime statute used to label them public-safety threats and remove them with limited process. The use of that law to expel migrants has since faced legal challenges. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., recently ordered the administration to begin facilitating the return of Venezuelans deported under the statute so they can receive the due process the judge found was denied; that order is under appeal.
Despite government claims that many of the deportees were linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, investigative reporting found that numerous men had no criminal records or convictions for violent offenses and have denied gang ties. Leon Rengel said he was identified as a gang associate because of a tattoo on his hand — a lion with a hair clipper — which he says relates to his work cutting hair, not gang membership. “I’ve never been a gang member, nor a member of a criminal group,” he said.
Leon Rengel entered the U.S. in 2023 using CBP One, a Biden administration program for asylum-seekers, at an official entry point. He has one prior U.S. conviction: a Texas misdemeanor guilty plea after a traffic stop for possession of drug paraphernalia, which he said involved a vehicle that was not his and resulted only in a small fine. His lawyers say he otherwise has no criminal history and that Justice Department records do not show a deportation order for him; those records indicate he had an immigration court hearing scheduled for April 2028.
DHS told CBS News it believes Leon Rengel has links to Tren de Aragua but declined to share evidence, saying disclosure would harm national security. Leon Rengel, now back in Venezuela after being freed in a July 2025 prisoner swap, says he is focused on clearing his name rather than returning to the U.S., calling his deportation and detention violations of his human rights.