Venezuela men sue aviation firms who flew them to notorious Salvadorian jail

Venezuelan men have sued aviation firms tied to flights that transported them to El Salvador for detention at a terrorism prison, alleging rights violations after the Trump administration’s deportation actions. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, accuses CSI Aviation and GlobalX of violating civil rights, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and other claims connected to their role in flying three planes to El Salvador. It says the companies acted “in concert” with the US government in what it describes as unlawful “rendition flights,” despite a federal judge ordering the flights to return. The complaint references March 2023, when the administration expelled more than 230 Venezuelan men held in US immigration custody to El Salvador, where they were detained for four months at the maximum-security “Cecot” facility and allegedly tortured. The DHS did not respond to specific claims, and the firms did not comment.