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Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Migrant sent to El Salvador prison by the Trump administration says he was beaten by guards
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 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 — who had entered the country illegally. It called his claims a fake 'sob story.' Advertisement '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.' Advertisement 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 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. Rengel's attorneys say he was on one of those planes. Advertisement The judge has found probable cause that the administration committed contempt of court. Boasberg 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.
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
‘Hell on earth.' A Venezuelan deportee describes abuse in El Salvador prison
CARACAS, Venezeula — When Jerce Reyes Barrios and other Venezuelan deportees entered a maximum security prison in El Salvador this spring, he said guards greeted them with taunts. 'Welcome to El Salvador, you sons of bitches,' Reyes Barrios said the guards told them. 'You've arrived at the Terrorist Confinement Center. Hell on earth.' What followed, Reyes Barrios said, were the darkest months of his life. Reyes Barrios said he was regularly beaten on his neck, ribs and head. He and other prisoners were given little food and forced to drink contaminated water. They slept on metal beds with no mattresses in overcrowded cells, listening to the screams of other inmates. 'There was blood, vomit and people passed out on the floor, he said. Reyes Barrios, 36, was one of more than 250 Venezuelans sent to El Salvador from the United States in March after President Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without normal immigration procedures. Many of the men, including Reyes Barrios, insist that they have no ties to the gang and were denied due process. After enduring months in detention in El Salvador, they were sent home last week as part of a prisoner exchange deal that included Venezuela's release of several detained Americans. Venezuela's attorney general said interviews with the men revealed 'systemic torture' inside the Salvadoran prison, including daily beatings, rancid food and sexual abuse. One of the former detainees, Neiyerver Adrián León Rengel, filed a claim Thursday with the Homeland Security Department, accusing the U.S. of removing him without due process and asking for $1.3 million in damages. Reyes Barrios spoke to The Times over video Thursday after returning to his hometown of Machiques, a city of 140,000 not far from the Colombian border. He was overjoyed to be reunited with his mother, his wife and his children. But he said he was haunted by his experience in prison. A onetime professional soccer player, Reyes Barrios left Venezuela last year amid political unrest and in search of economic opportunity. He entered the U.S. on Sept. 1 at the Otay Mesa border crossing in California under the asylum program known as CBP One. He was immediately detained, accused of being a gangster and placed in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A court statement earlier this year from his attorney, Linette Tobin, said authorities tied Reyes Barrios to Tren de Aragua based solely on an arm tattoo and a social media post in which he made a hand gesture that U.S. authorities interpreted as a gang sign. The tattoo — a crown sitting atop a soccer ball, with a rosary and the word 'Díos' or 'God' — is actually an homage to his favorite team, Real Madrid, Tobin wrote. She said the hand gesture is sign language for 'I Love You.' While in custody in California, Reyes Barrios applied for political asylum and other relief. A hearing had been set for April 17, but on March 15, he was deported to El Salvador 'with no notice to counsel or family,' Tobin wrote. Reyes Barrios 'has never been arrested or charged with a crime,' Tobin added. 'He has a steady employment record as a soccer player as well as a soccer coach for children and youth.' The surprise deportation of Reyes Barrios and other Venezuelans to El Salvador drew outcry from human rights advocates and spurred a legal battle with the Trump administration. Reyes Barrios was not aware of the controversy over deportations as he was ushered in handcuffs from the airport in San Salvador to the country's infamous Terrorism Confinement Center, also known as CECOT. There, Reyes Barrios said he and other inmates were forced to walk on their knees as their heads were shaved and they were repeatedly beaten. He said he was put in a cell with 21 other men — all Venezuelans. Guards meted out measly portions of beans and tortillas and told the inmates they 'would never eat chicken or meat again.' El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, has detained tens of thousands of his compatriots in CECOT and other prisons in recent years, part of a gang crackdown that human rights advocates say has ensnared thousands of innocent people. Bukele garnered worldwide attention and praise from U.S. Republicans after he published dramatic photos and videos showing hundreds of prisoners crammed together in humiliating positions, wearing nothing but underwear and shackles. During a meeting with Bukele at the Oval Office this year, Trump said he was interested in sending 'homegrowns' — i.e. American prisoners — to El Salvador's jails. A spokeswoman for Bukele did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Reyes Barrios said guards told him and the other detained Venezuelans that they would spend the rest of their lives in the prison. Reyes Barrios said he started praying at night: 'God, protect my mother and my children. I entrust my soul to you because I think I'm going to die.' Then, several days ago, he and the other prisoners were awakened by yelling in the early morning hours. Guards told them they had 20 minutes to take showers and prepare to leave. 'At that moment, we all shouted with joy,' Reyes Barrios said. 'I think that was my only happy day at CECOT.' After arriving in Venezuela, Reyes Barrios and the other returnees spent days in government custody, undergoing medical checks and interviews with officials. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has seized on the treatment of prisoners, airing videos on state television in which some deportees describe suffering abuses including rape, beatings and being shot at with pellet guns. Venezuelan authorities say they are investigating Bukele over the alleged abuse. Maduro, a leftist authoritarian who has ruled Venezuela since 2013, has maintained his grip on power by jailing — and sometimes torturing — opponents. Many of the 7.7 million Venezuelans who have fled the country in recent years have cited political repression as one reason for leaving. In Tobin's court statement, she said Reyes Barrios participated in two demonstrations against Maduro in early 2024. After the second, Reyes Barrios was detained by authorities along with other protesters and tortured, she wrote. Reyes Barrios said he did not wish to discuss Venezuelan politics. He said he was just grateful to be back with his family. 'My mother is very happy, ' he said. He was greeted in his hometown by some of the young soccer players he once coached. They wore their uniforms and held balloons. Reyes Barrios juggled a ball a bit, gave the kids hugs and high fives, and smiled. Linthicum reported from Mexico City and Mogollón, a special correspondent, from Caracas. Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell contributed from Mexico City.
Chicago Tribune
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Migrant sent to El Salvador prison by the Trump administration says he was beaten by guards
WASHINGTON — A migrant from Venezuela deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador has taken the first step toward suing the U.S. government, saying he was wrongly sent to a notorious prison in the Central American country where he was beaten by guards and kept from contacting his family or an attorney. 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 — who had entered the country illegally. It 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. Rengel's attorneys say he was on one of those planes. The judge has found probable cause that the administration committed contempt of court. Boasberg 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 migrantsit accused of being gang members.
New York Times
4 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Convicted Murderer Released by Trump From Venezuelan Prison Is Free in U.S.
He killed three people in Spain and fled to Venezuela, where he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, court documents show. Then last week, the Trump administration negotiated his release as part of a large prisoner swap, and he arrived on American soil. Now, the convict, Dahud Hanid Ortiz, 54, a U.S. Army veteran, is free in the United States, according to two people with knowledge of the case. One said he was in Orlando, Fla. When the Americans put Mr. Hanid Ortiz on a plane on Friday back to the United States, at least some people in the Trump administration knew of his criminal past, according to third person. Mr. Hanid Ortiz was among 10 Americans and U.S. legal permanent residents extracted by the United States from detention in Venezuela on Friday. In exchange, the United States agreed to allow the release of 252 Venezuelan men it had sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. The Trump administration claimed all the men were members of the Tren de Aragua gang and had to be removed to protect the security of Americans. President Trump had used a wartime power, the Alien Enemies Act, to expel them. His administration provided little evidence to back its claim that they were all criminals. Mr. Hanid Ortiz's crimes and conviction had been documented in the news media and in public court records for years before his release. In 2023, officials in the Biden administration who had learned of his detention in Venezuela decided not to take him as part of a different prisoner swap, according to a former U.S. official. The official said that the Spanish authorities had asked the United States to send him to Spain, but that Spanish officials ultimately decided against this — and the Department of Justice decided it didn't want him in the United States. The decision by the Trump administration to facilitate Mr. Hanid Ortiz's release from the Venezuelan prison has elicited anger and fear among relatives of his victims — and a man court records say he had intended to kill but who, ultimately, survived. Mr. Hanid Ortiz's crimes took place in 2016 in Madrid, according to Venezuelan court documents, when he visited the office of a lawyer, Victor Salas, who he believed was having a relationship with his wife. He killed two women there, as well as a man he mistook for Mr. Salas. He fled to Germany and then to Venezuela. Spain sought the extradition of Mr. Salas, but the Venezuelan Constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens, and he was tried instead in Venezuela. It is unclear if Mr. Hanid Ortiz can now be extradited to Spain, since he has already been tried and convicted in Venezuela and served some prison time. The Spanish prosecutor's office has confirmed Mr. Hanid Ortiz's conviction and release by the Venezuelan authorities, but declined on Thursday to comment further. Mr. Hanid Ortiz, a dual Venezuelan American citizen, served 19 years in the Army and was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in Iraq. He suffered multiple physical and mental injuries as a result of his military service, according to an Army court document, and then was forced out of the military after pleading guilty to fraud and larceny. This week, Mr. Salas said in an interview that when he heard Mr. Hanid Ortiz had been released, he immediately feared for his life. 'If this was an omission, please make amends,' he said, directing his message to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'Because it not only endangers me, but all Americans, because they are faced with a murderer who killed three innocent people without any qualms.' José Bautista contributed reporting from Madrid, and Michael Crowley from Washington.
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Deported Venezuelan imprisoned in El Salvador files formal complaint against US
WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man filed a formal complaint on Thursday against the U.S. government for sending him to El Salvador's most notorious prison, a new legal strategy that could be duplicated by others who have said they were falsely accused of gang membership by President Donald Trump's administration. Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, filed what it called an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, contending that federal employees wrongfully removed him from the United States without cause or due process. Rengel's complaint, which seeks $1.3 million in monetary damages, is not a lawsuit brought in a court but rather an action filed with the government alleging a violation of law. It is the first of its kind brought by one of the 252 Venezuelan men who were deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March. He invoked the Federal Tort Claims Act, a U.S. law that allows people to sue the U.S. government for wrongful acts committed by federal employees acting within the scope of their employment. Under that law, a complaint must be filed with the appropriate agency before a lawsuit can be brought. The government now has six months to investigate and respond to Rengel's complaint. If it denies his claim or fails to respond in that time period, Rengel could then sue in federal court. The Republican president, who campaigned in last year's election on a pledge of mass deportations, in March invoked a 1798 statute called the Alien Enemies Act as part of an effort to quickly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. The law authorizes the president to deport, detain or place restrictions on individuals whose primary allegiance is to a foreign power and who might pose a national security risk in wartime. The U.S. government last invoked the Alien Enemies Act, which historically has been employed only during wartime, during World War Two to intern and deport people of Japanese, German and Italian descent. The Venezuelan deportees were held incommunicado in El Salvador's maximum security CECOT prison until they were returned to Venezuela last week as part of a prisoner swap between the United States and Venezuela. Family and friends of some of them said the deportees were not gang members and were wrongly accused based on tattoos, hand gestures and clothing. Venezuelan government officials and deportees have said they were tortured in prison. Rengel's lawyers said in the complaint that, because of his tattoos, DHS employees detained him in the parking lot of his apartment in Irving, Texas, and falsely accused him of membership in the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement on Thursday reiterated the U.S. government's claim that Rengel was associated with Tren de Aragua and said he was "deemed a public safety threat." McLaughlin said Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "will not allow foreign terrorist enemies to operate in our country and endanger Americans." Rengel alleged that, after moving him to a detention center, DHS employees lied to him, telling him he was being sent to Venezuela. "Instead, for more than four months, Rengel languished in El Salvador – which is not his country of origin and a place where he has no ties – where he suffered physical, verbal and psychological abuse," the complaint said.
