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Deported Venezuelan man sues U.S. for $56M after alleged torture in Salvadoran prison

Johnny Hernandez fled Venezuela as a child, only to face brutal abuse in a foreign prison. Now, his fight for justice could reshape U.S. deportation policies forever.

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Deported Venezuelan man sues U.S. for $56M after alleged torture in Salvadoran prison

A Utah law firm has filed a personal injury notice of claim against the U.S government on behalf of a Venezuelan national who was allegedly tortured at the Salvadoran maximum security prison CECOT.

Attorneys from Parker & McConkie wrote in a legal filing that their client - using the alias Johnny Hernandez - entered the U.S. legally and had no criminal record, but was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Diego and sent to CECOT "without due process."

With the notice of claim, the legal team is gearing up toward a $56-million lawsuit against the government.

Hernandez and his family first left Venezuela for Colombia when he was 11 years old due to political turmoil. Years later, they traveled to Central America and Mexico and awaited asylum status in the U.S. The family was eventually granted humanitarian parole and allowed to legally enter the U.S. in August 2024.

" Our client is a young Venezuelan man who came into the U.S. legally to escape threats of violence by the Venezuelan government against his family for their opposition to the Maduro regime," attorney Jim McConkie of Parker & McConkie said in a press release.

When attempting to cross into the U.S., Hernandez was detained after officials decided he was affiliated with the Venezuelan crime organization Tren de Aragua. Per the filing, Hernandez denied the affiliation and was detained while his family was allowed to head to Utah. He was sent to an ICE center in San Diego, where he remained until March 2025.

Hernandez was among the more than 200 men deported to El Salvador on March 15, 2025, and held at CECOT.

In 2025, Bloomberg News reported that roughly 90% of the 238 migrants that Trump administration officials accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang and expelled to CECOT in March of that year had no U.S. criminal record.

Hernandez was released from CECOT and sent to Venezulea along with 252 of his fellow countrymen in July 2025. Since his release, Hernandez has claimed he was severely mistreated at the maximum security detention center.

"For more than four months, [Hernandez] anguished in CECOT, where he suffered extreme torture, including being shot with a rubber bullet that inflicted permanent damage, being severely and systematically beaten, and being subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment by prison officials, all of which resulted in physical, psychological and emotional injuries, as well as permanent impairments," the filing claimed.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Times that the agency stands by its agents' decision-making.

"We are confident in our law enforcement's intelligence, and we aren't going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one," the spokesperson wrote.

DHS also claimed: "There IS due process for these terrorists who all have final deportation orders. Further, we have a stringent law enforcement assessment in place that abides by due process under the US Constitution."

McConkie said that Hernandez is seeking accountability from the U.S. government and fears what the allowance of such governmental activities could mean for others like him in the future.

"When the U.S. government knowingly and purposefully violates the law by detaining and deporting innocent individuals on false charges and is not held responsible, the individual rights of not just legal immigrants but all Americans are placed in jeopardy," the attorney said. "Our client suffered catastrophic injuries in CECOT from which he will never fully recover. Failing to demand accountability now places all Americans in jeopardy in the future."

News of this step toward a lawsuit comes a week after Venezuelan native Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in federal court. He claimed to have been beaten by guards at CECOT and has continually denied any gang affiliations, which the U.S. used as an excuse to deport him. The 28-year-old Leon Rengel has sought at least $1.3 million in compensation.

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