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

Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel was subjected to "inhumane and overcrowded conditions as well as extreme psychological trauma" and denied counsel, his attorney Norm Eisen said.

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

Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel was detained in Texas on March 13, 2025 — his birthday — removed from the U.S. and flown to CECOT with dozens of other immigrants on now-infamous flights.

Leon Rengel's relatives did not know where he was for weeks, and they told NBC News they got different answers from authorities when they tried to find him. NBC News confirmed he had been sent to CECOT and informed his brother who had been searching for him.

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

“For four months, Plaintiff languished in CECOT, during which time he was beaten by guards, subjected to inhumane and overcrowded conditions as well as extreme psychological trauma, denied adequate medical care, and held without contact with his family or any legal counsel,” the lawsuit says.