Migrant sent to El Salvador prison by the Trump administration says he was beaten by guards
Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, has filed a claim for $1.3 million with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, his attorneys with Democracy Defenders Fund said Thursday. Rengel is among more than 250 migrants from Venezuela sent to El Salvador in March, out of the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Immigration agents took Rengel into custody on March 13 in the parking lot of his apartment in Irving, Texas, wrongly claiming his tattoos reflected an affiliation with Tren de Aragua, according to his claim. He had entered the U.S. in 2023. He worked as a barber and was scheduled to appear before an immigration judge in 2028.
Homeland Security said in an email that Rengel was a 'confirmed associate' of the Tren de Aragua gang, though it did not specify how it reached that conclusion, and called his claims a fake 'sob story.'
'President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow foreign terrorist enemies to operate in our country and endanger Americans,' the email said. It added, 'We hear far too much about gang members and criminals' false sob stories and not enough about their victims.'
At El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, Rengel said guards hit him with fists and batons and, on one occasion, viciously beat him after taking him to an area of the prison without cameras.
Rengel was sent to Venezuela earlier this month as part of a prisoner exchange deal. His attorneys say he is living with his mother and is 'terrified' to return to the United States.
They are seeking compensation for emotional and psychological injuries.
A federal judge ruled in June that the Trump administration must give some of the migrants sent to the prison in El Salvador a chance to challenge their deportations.
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg said the people hadn't been able to formally contest the removals or allegations that they were members of Tren de Aragua. He ordered the administration to work toward giving them a way to file those challenges.
The judge wrote that 'significant evidence' had surfaced indicating that many of the migrants were not connected to the gang 'and thus were languishing in a foreign prison on flimsy, even frivolous, accusations.'
At a hearing on Thursday, an attorney for the Trump administration told Boasberg it would not immediately bring the migrants sent from El Salvador to Venezuela as part of the prisoner exchange back to the U.S.
Trump officials planned to await the outcome of other court cases before deciding whether to allow the migrants to return, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Tiberius Davis said.
Boasberg had ordered the administration to turn planes carrying the accused gang members around, but the demand was ignored. The judge has found probable cause that the administration committed contempt of court.
The judge said Thursday he planned to expand his contempt probe to include a recent whistleblower complaint that claims a top Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members.
___
Thanawala reported from Atlanta.
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New Statesman
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Can Starmer and Trump come to an agreement on Gaza?
Photo byA golf course is an unusual setting for an urgent meeting between two international leaders. But today, Keir Starmer will travel up to the west coast of Scotland to meet the US President, Donald Trump, who has been enjoying a four-day holiday at the Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire. Trump purchased Turnberry golf course and its accompanying hotel in 2014 for $60m, and in recent days has been conducting trade talks and diplomacy between rounds of golf. This marks Trump's first visit to the UK since his re-election (he will return to the UK in September for an official state visit). The White House has described it as a 'private trip', but the US President has also taken this as an opportunity to bear some influence on European politics. (Upon arriving in Scotland on Friday night, Trump told reporters that European countries need to 'stop the windmills' and added that immigration is 'killing Europe'). Over the weekend, he held talks with Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commissioner, during which the pair agreed to impose a 15% US tariff on all EU goods. The location of these talks stands in stark contrast to the content of Trump and Starmer's discussion this afternoon, which is likely to be dominated by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. As I have written this morning, pressure has been mounting on the Prime Minister to recognise the state of Palestine and to take more strident action to alleviate this humanitarian crisis. Though the government's position remains unchanged on recognition (they have said they will only do so at the point of 'maximum impact'), Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis. Over the weekend, Israel allowed a brief cessation of violence in several areas of Gaza to assist the safe passage of humanitarian aid, but the deathly famine is ongoing. The World Health Organisation has warned malnutrition has reached 'alarming levels'. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropped seven packages containing sugar, flour and canned food into Gaza. The UAE, Jordan and Egypt have also delivered aid by land and air. This is far from enough. In response, the meeting between the two leaders will likely focus on the push for an urgent ceasefire. The US, alongside Qatar and Egypt, has been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas. After the US and Israel withdrew their teams from Doha last week, Trump said Hamas 'didn't really want to make a deal'. The US's position on this conflict clearly has some influence over Starmer's thinking on recognition. When Emmanuel Macron announced that France will recognise the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio described the decision as 'reckless'. Trump said Macron's decision 'doesn't matter'. The UK's reluctance to follow France's lead is likely driven by concern from within government that taking such a decision in the middle of Trump's visit could derail discussions over the ongoing UK-US trade deal (Trump and Starmer are likely to make progress on this during their meeting today). But this justification will not dampen the growing consternation over Gaza within the cabinet, nor will it win over voters or backbench MPs who have long criticised Starmer for his reticence to act. This meeting is a tangible indication of the position the Prime Minister finds himself in. He is caught between mounting domestic pressure to recognise Palestine and take bolder action on Gaza, and the need to maintain a renewed but sensitive special relationship between the UK and the US. It is a tricky balancing act, with parameters likely to shift quickly. This is the most difficult test of Starmer's premiership to date. Only time will tell how well he fares. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related
The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
DoJ drops cases against LA protesters after officers caught making false claims
US immigration officers made false and misleading statements in their reports about several Los Angeles protesters they arrested during the massive demonstrations that rocked the city in June, according to federal law enforcement files obtained by the Guardian. The officers' testimony was cited in at least five cases filed by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) amid the unrest. The DoJ has charged at least 26 people with 'assaulting' and 'impeding' federal officers and other crimes during the protests over immigration raids. Prosecutors, however, have since been forced to dismiss at least eight of those felonies, many of them which relied on officers' inaccurate reports, court records show. The DoJ has also dismissed at least three felony assault cases it brought against Angelenos accused of interfering with arrests during recent immigration raids, the documents show. The rapid felony dismissals are a major embarrassment for the Trump-appointed US attorney for southern California, Bill Essayli, and appeared to be the result of an unusual series of missteps by the DoJ, former federal prosecutors said. The Guardian's review of records found: Out of nine 'assault' and 'impeding' felony cases the DoJ filed immediately after the start of the protests and promoted by the attorney general, Pam Bondi, prosecutors dismissed seven of them soon after filing the charges. In reports that led to the detention and prosecution of at least five demonstrators, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents made false statements about the sequence of events and misrepresented incidents captured on video. One DHS agent accused a protester of shoving an officer, when footage appeared to show the opposite: the officer forcefully pushed the protester. One indictment named the wrong defendant, a stunning error that has jeopardized one of the government's most high-profile cases. 'When I see felonies dismissed, that tells me either the federal officers have filed affidavits that are not truthful and that has been uncovered, or US attorneys reviewing the cases realize the evidence does not support the charges,' said Cristine Soto DeBerry, a former California state prosecutor who is now director of Prosecutors Alliance Action, a criminal justice reform group. She said officers often call for charges that prosecutors don't end up filing, but it was uncommon for the DoJ to file, then dismiss cases, especially numerous felonies in rapid succession. 'It seems this is a way to detain people, hold them in custody, instill fear and discourage people from exercising their first amendment rights,' DeBerry said. There are at least 18 cases brought by the DoJ against LA protesters that prosecutors have not dismissed, covering a wide array of alleged criminal conduct, according to case records the US attorney's office shared with the Guardian. In three of those cases, protesters have agreed to plea deals, including one defendant accused of spitting at an officer and another who allegedly threw rocks. Some still facing charges are accused of throwing bottles and molotov cocktails, pointing a laser at a helicopter and aiding in civil disorder by distributing gas masks. In six of the felony dismissals reviewed by the Guardian, the DoJ has re-filed lower-level misdemeanors against the defendants. For the many protesters whose charges were withdrawn or scaled back, the officers' initial allegations, as well as the DoJ's filings, have deeply impacted their lives. All the demonstrators who won dismissals spent time in jail before the government's cases against them fell apart. 'We are not the violent ones,' said Jose Mojica, one of the protesters whose assault case was dismissed, in an earlier Guardian interview. 'They are chasing down innocent people.' The DoJ's initial wave of cases stemmed from one of the first major protests in the LA region, a demonstration on 7 June in the south Los Angeles city of Paramount. Border patrol sightings had sparked fears that agents were targeting laborers at a Home Depot, and as dozens of locals and demonstrators gathered outside an office complex that houses DHS, officers fired teargas and flash-bang grenades while some protesters threw objects. The US attorney's office filed a joint case against five demonstrators, charging each with assaulting officers, a felony the DoJ warned could carry 20-year sentences. A criminal complaint, written by DHS and filed in court by the DoJ on 8 June, said that as the crowd grew, some protesters 'turned violent'. Two sisters, Ashley, 20, and Joceline Rodriguez, 26, began 'blocking' officers' vehicles, the complaint alleged. When a border patrol agent attempted to move Ashley, she 'resisted' and 'shoved the agent with both her hands', then Joceline 'grabbed the arm' of one of the agents to prevent her sister's arrest, the charges said. Both were arrested. In an investigative file, DHS suggested that 'in response' to the sisters' arrest, Christian Cerna-Camacho, another protester, began to 'verbally harass' agents, making threatening remarks. Demonstrator Brayan Ramos-Brito, then 'pushed [an] agent in the chest', DHS claimed, at which point, a fifth protester, Jose Mojica, 'used his body to physically shield' Ramos-Brito and then 'elbowed and pushed' agents. Agents then 'subdued' and arrested Mojica and Ramos-Brito, the complaint said. All five defendants are Latino US citizens. DHS's own subsequent reports, however, reveal multiple factual discrepancies in the narrative initially presented by officers and prosecutors. While the complaint suggested Cerna-Camacho, Ramos Brito and Mojica attacked agents in protest of the sisters' arrest, records show the women were arrested in a separate incident – which occurred after the men were detained. Border patrol agent Eduardo Mejorado, a key witness considered a victim of the assaults, appeared to initially give inaccurate testimony about the order of events. He 'clarified' the timeline when questioned, a DHS special agent wrote in a report three days after charges were filed. A supervisor on the scene also documented the correct chronology in a later report and 'apologized' for errors, saying, 'Due to the chaos of the events that day, some events may have been miscommunicated'. Mojica had outlined the discrepancies in an interview with the Guardian days after his arrest. The DHS special agent also noted that defense lawyers had presented video they said was 'in direct contrast to the facts' laid out in the initial complaint. The footage, seen by the Guardian, appeared to show an agent pushing Ramos-Brito, not the other way around, before he was taken to the ground along with Mojica, who was also not seen in the footage shoving or assaulting agents. The agent acknowledged the officer's shoving and said the subsequent 'fight' was 'hard to decipher'. The agent also claimed Ramos-Brito's behavior before he was pushed included 'pre-assault indicators', such as 'clenching fists' and 'getting in [the agent's] face'. Meanwhile, chaotic social media footage of the arrest of the sisters appeared to show an officer pushing Ashley, prompting her to briefly raise her hand, at which point two agents grabbed her and took her to the ground. Her older sister was then seen briefly touching the arm of one of the agents on top of her sister. Both appeared to be filming with their phones before their arrests, and it's unclear who DHS and the DoJ were alleging were the victims in their purported assaults. DHS records also show that one supervisor emailed a female border patrol agent seen in the video standing near the sisters, saying he was 'trying to tie that whole event together for prosecution' and looking into a 'rumor' Ashley 'may have shoved' this agent. The agent responded that she had told Ashley to move, but did not say she was shoved. Within two weeks of the initial charges, the US attorney's office filed motions to dismiss the cases against the sisters, Ramos-Brito and Mojica 'in the interest of justice', without providing further explanation. The DoJ then filed a new case against the sisters, this time accusing them each of a single misdemeanor, saying they 'assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and interfered with' border patrol, but offering no detail. The sisters pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanors; Ashley's lawyer declined to comment and Joceline's attorney did not respond to inquiries. The DoJ also filed a misdemeanor indictment against Ramos-Brito, but then said it was erroneous and rescinded it, only to refile a misdemeanor in a different format. Ramos-Brito pleaded not guilty and his lawyer didn't respond to emails. Mojica, who spoke out about how he was injured during his arrest, has not been charged again. Essayli, the US attorney for LA, who is an ardent Trump supporter appointed this year, initially published mugshots of the defendants, but has not publicly acknowledged that he has since dismissed their felonies. Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for Essayli, declined to comment on a detailed list of questions about specific cases. The LA Times reported last week that Essayli was heard 'screaming' at a prosecutor over a grand jury's refusal to indict one of the protesters. McEvoy said the LA Times story relied on 'factual inaccuracies and anonymous gossip', without offering specifics, adding in an email: 'Our office will continue working unapologetically to charge all those who assault our agents or impede our federal investigations.' Bondi defended Essayli in a statement, calling him a 'champion for law and order who has done superlative work to prosecute rioters for attacking and obstructing law enforcement in Los Angeles'. She added: 'This Department of Justice is proud of Bill, and he has my complete support as he continues working to protect Californians and Make America Safe Again.' Jaime Ruiz, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection, which oversees border patrol, did not respond to detailed questions about cases and officers' inaccurate testimony, saying the department is 'unable to comment on cases under active litigation'. 'DHS and its components continue to enforce the law every day in greater Los Angeles even in the face of danger,' he added. 'Our officers are facing a surge in assaults and attacks against them as they put their lives on the line to enforce our nation's laws. Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been clear: If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, added in a statement: 'Our agents, officers, and prosecutors will continue to work together to keep Americans safe, and we will follow the facts, evidence, and law.' Mejorado, the border patrol agent, could not be reached. Cerna-Camacho is the only defendant of the five whose original charges are still pending, but when he showed up to court for his recent arraignment, the DoJ attorney was forced to admit his office had made an error: the one-paragraph indictment filed against Cerna-Camacho erroneously named Ramos Brito. Cerna-Camacho's lawyers have argued that the government's 30-day window to indict his client had passed, and the case must be dismissed. Cerna-Camacho pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer declined to comment. 'This is an extraordinary mistake and a dangerous embarrassment,' said Sergio Perez, a former DoJ lawyer who is now executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, a California-based legal advocacy group, about Cerna-Camacho's case. 'The US Department of Justice is supposed to be the pinnacle of professional and responsible criminal prosecutions. When you can't get the name right, it calls into question all other factual assertions in those documents. It's way beyond a clerical error. It's smoke where there is likely fire.' The case is a significant one for the Trump administration. Cerna-Camacho was arrested four days after the protest, when two unmarked vehicles rammed his car while his toddler and infant were inside, with officers deploying teargas. The incident caused outrage locally. But DHS aggressively defended the arrest, publishing a photo of Cerna-Camachobeing detained, and saying he had 'punched' a border patrol officer at the Paramount protests. Video from the protest showed Cerna-Camacho and an officer scuffling in a chaotic crowd, with Cerna-Camacho at one point raising his hand, but it's unclear if he made contact with the officer. In an initial complaint against Jacob Terrazas, DHS accused the man of felony assault, saying he was 'one of several individuals … actively throwing hard objects [at officers]' during the Paramount protests, without referencing specific evidence or details. Video of his arrest showed an officer slamming him to the ground, and at his arraignment, Terrazas appeared badly concussed, and a judge ordered he immediately get medical attention. Terrazas was released after nine days in jail, then two days later, the DoJ moved to dismiss the case. However, prosecutors filed a new misdemeanor charge, accusing him of a 'simple assault' misdemeanor, saying he 'aided and abetted' others and 'forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and interfered with' a border patrol employee, without providing details. Tarrazas has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer did not respond to inquiries. The government has also dismissed its 'conspiracy to impede an officer' felony charges against Gisselle Medina, but then filed an 'accessory' to 'assault' misdemeanor, claiming in a brief charging document that she had 'assisted the offenders'. The charges did not offer any details on how she allegedly assisted others. Medina has not yet been arraigned and her lawyer did not respond to inquiries. The DoJ also recently dismissed felony assault charges against Russell Gomez Dzul, who had been stopped 7 June by border patrol when officers deemed him suspicious for appearing 'nervous' near them and biking away, but then filed a simple assault misdemeanor, without offering details. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Andrea Velez, a US citizen arrested during a 24 June raid in downtown LA on her way to work, also had a felony assault charge dismissed this month, and has not faced further prosecution. One of the only cases from the first round of prosecutions that the government has not dropped is the one that made international headlines – the arrest of David Huerta, a prominent California union leader jailed while observing an immigration raid. Carley Palmer, a lawyer who served as a supervisor in the US attorney's office in LA until she left last year, said the dismissals and downgrading of charges likely occurred after more in-depth evaluation by line prosecutors and supervisors, and in some ways reflected 'the process working': 'We want prosecutors to feel they can reevaluate evidence and change their mind when new information comes to light.' Prosecutors might dismiss cases if a grand jury declines to indict, if they believe they can't persuade jurors at trial, or if they learn officers violated the defendants' rights, she added. The LA Times reported that Essayli has struggled to secure indictments at grand juries. Palmer, now an attorney at the Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg firm, said it was unusual, however, for the office to prosecute these kinds of 'he said she said' protest scuffles in the first place, taking away resources from traditional priorities, including fraud, economic crimes, public corruption and civil rights abuses. 'Federal charges are very serious and have real implications for people's lives,' Palmer added. 'Even if it gets dismissed, it will be on someone's record for the rest of their lives. It carries a lot of consequences, so you want prosecutors to understand and appreciate the power they have.'
Daily Mail
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mail
Bomb squad responds to suspicious package near White House
By The United States Secret Service arrested a man after he climbed a gate at the US Treasury building in Washington DC as police deployed a bomb squad to investigate a 'suspicious package' he left near the White House. Officers cordoned off the area and restricted pedestrian and vehicle traffic as specialists from the Metropolitan Police Department's Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit examined the object the unidentified man left on the sidewalk outside of the fence at around 2.30pm on Sunday. The Treasury building is located right next to the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, but President Donald Trump was overseas in Scotland meeting with European Union Commission President Ursuala von der Leyen (pictured) at the time. Authorities ultimately concluded that the bag was not an explosive device, a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement, and the roads were reopened. The suspect was then charged with unlawful entry and in connection with an outstanding warrant. He was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation. It remains unclear what the man's motivation may have been for scaling the fence to the Treasury building. But his arrest came just hours after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House to protest the blockade of aid to the Gaza Strip, according to the Anadolu Agency. The group marched from Lafayette Square to the home of the president to demand an end to the blockade and United States support for Israel. Some even displayed photos of children who have died in Gaza from malnutrition and re-enacted the deaths of Palestinians who were killed seeking food. Organizer Hazami Barmada explained on Instagram that the protest was designed to push for 'food for Gaza, for unrestricted aid, for the humanity and dignity of Palestinians to stop being taken away or stripped by Israel.' She also urged the White House to 'do its job' and help end the blockade. But as the protest raged on, President Trump promised additional U.S. food aid to combat starvation in Gaza. He also complained that the United States doesn't get credit for the aid it is providing to the area, and vowed to press other nations to do more. 'People don't know this – and we didn't certainly get any acknowledgement or thank you, but we contributed $60 million to food and supplies and everything else,' said Trump. 'We hope the money gets there, because you know, that money gets taken. The food gets taken. We're going to do more, but we gave a lot of money. Nobody acknowledged it. Nobody talks about it,' Trump complained. 'And it makes you feel a little bad when you do that. And you know, you have other countries not giving anything.' 'The US is going to do more aid for Gaza but we'd like to have other countries participate,' the president said. 'It would be nice to have at least a thank you,' Trump continued. His remarks came after Israel announced it would provide 10-hour 'tactical' pauses to allow food aid deliveries amid the humanitarian crisis and the breakdown in talks for a ceasefire that would free remaining hostages that Hamas took after the October 7 attack on Israel. It has made other allowances for aid since beginning its attacks following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack inside Israel. But the blockade and difficulty for people to move and access food and medicine has led to reports of widespread hunger. 'If we weren't there, I think people would have starved, frankly – they would have starved. And it's not like they're eating well, but a lot of that food is getting stolen by stolen by Hamas. You know, they're stealing the food. They're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in, and they steal it, then they sell it,' Trump said.
