Key facts
- Venezuelan men deported to El Salvador are suing aviation companies CSI Aviation and GlobalX.
- The lawsuit alleges civil rights violations, false imprisonment, and negligence.
- The flights occurred in March of last year under the Trump administration.
- The men were detained in El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
- A federal judge had ordered the deportation flights to return to the US.
- The companies allegedly profited financially from the deportation scheme.
Venezuelan men who were deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration last year are now suing the US aviation companies that facilitated their transport. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington D.C., names CSI Aviation and GlobalX as defendants, accusing them of violating the men's civil rights, false imprisonment, and negligence.
The plaintiffs allege that CSI and GlobalX knowingly participated in "rendition flights" to El Salvador in concert with the U.S. government, despite a federal judge's order to return the planes to the U.S. and knowledge that the detainees would likely face torture at El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
The lawsuit highlights that the companies, hired by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), profited significantly from these operations. The Venezuelan men, however, continue to suffer severe emotional distress and lasting health issues from their experience in the notorious prison, which Human Rights Watch has described as amounting to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance.
Last year, the Trump administration expelled approximately 252 Venezuelan and Salvadorian men under the Alien Enemies Act, based on unproven accusations of gang membership. The deal with El Salvador involved the U.S. paying millions to detain these individuals. While the Venezuelan men were eventually returned after four months, the Salvadoran detainees remain in CECOT. The case is being overseen by Federal Judge James Boasberg.