A Venezuelan man has filed a federal lawsuit against the United States government, claiming he was snatched off a Texas street, falsely branded a gang member, and illegally flown to a notorious “mega-prison” in El Salvador despite a court order meant to stop the flight.
Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, a 28-year-old barber, filed the complaint on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He is seeking $1.3 million in damages for what his lawyers describe as a “conscience-shocking” campaign of targeted persecution.
The lawsuit alleges that on March 13, 2025—Rengel’s birthday—he was headed to work in Irving, Texas, when ICE officers detained him.
Rengel says he entered the country legally through a port of entry and had an active immigration court date set for 2028. Instead of checking his paperwork, the suit claims officers pointed to his tattoos—which include the names of his mother and daughter—and declared him a member of the violent Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang.
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“Plaintiff immediately rebutted that identification, as he has never had any affiliation with TdA or any other gang,” the complaint states.
The case centers on the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law used to bypass standard deportation hearings. According to the filing, top officials at the Department of Justice and the White House orchestrated a “mad scramble” to get deportation planes in the air before judges could intervene.
The lawsuit highlights a dramatic confrontation with the legal system. On March 15, 2025, Judge James E. Boasberg issued a restraining order to halt the flights. However, the complaint alleges that high-ranking officials suggested a “f— you” strategy toward the court, directing planes to stay in the air.
Rengel claims he was told he was going back to Venezuela, but instead found himself on a GlobalX charter flight to San Salvador. Upon landing, the suit alleges Salvadoran guards boarded the plane and used violence to force detainees off.
For the next four months, Rengel says he “languished” in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a facility Salvadoran officials once promised “no one would ever leave walking.”
The complaint paints a grim picture of life inside the prison:
- Rengel was allegedly beaten with batons by guards who called him a “terrorist.”
- He was forced to sleep on metal slats in overcrowded cells where the lights never turned off.
- He claims he was denied medical care for a chronic stomach condition and a hand injury caused by restraints.
- He had zero contact with his family for nearly 90 days.
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While Rengel was imprisoned, the lawsuit notes that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem publicly praised the arrangement with El Salvador. Rubio reportedly retweeted the Salvadoran President mocking the U.S. court order with the comment, “Oopsie . . . Too late.”
Rengel was eventually released in July 2025 as part of a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Venezuela. He is now back in Caracas, but his lawyers say he is a changed man, suffering from severe PTSD and physical injuries that prevent him from working as a barber.
“Plaintiff’s story is not one of a normal, lawful immigration enforcement action,” the lawsuit concludes. “Instead, the cruel, heartless way that the scheme was effectuated is conscience-shocking.”
The U.S. government has not yet filed a formal response to the allegations in court.
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