更新于：2026年3月24日 / 美国东部时间下午2:52 / CBS新闻
一名去年被美国驱逐并被关押在萨尔瓦多臭名昭著的CECOT监狱的委内瑞拉男子，成为已知首位起诉美国要求赔偿的前囚犯。他周二在联邦法院提起诉讼，要求至少130万美元的赔偿。
28岁的内耶弗·阿德里安·莱昂·伦格尔(Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel)在接受CBS新闻采访时，将他在监狱度过的数月描述为”人间地狱”。
这名委内瑞拉男子表示，他和其他被拘留者经常遭到狱警的殴打和虐待。他回忆说，他们不得不饮用和其他囚犯洗澡的同一水源。狱警还告诉他，他将在那里待90年。
“有一次，我想过用他们给我们的床单上吊自杀，”莱昂·伦格尔用西班牙语告诉CBS新闻。
莱昂·伦格尔是数百名被美国驱逐至萨尔瓦多的委内瑞拉男子之一，他们在CECOT被单独监禁了大约四个月。他们于2025年7月在一次囚犯交换中获释。
人权观察组织的研究人员的一份报告发现，CECOT囚犯遭受了数月的身心虐待，包括一些性侵犯案件。该组织认定，他们在CECOT的经历根据国际法构成”任意拘留”和”酷刑”。
莱昂·伦格尔的诉讼案在华盛顿特区美国联邦地区法院提起，他的律师称这是非法监禁和故意造成精神痛苦，要求法院判给至少130万美元的赔偿。
“在四个月的时间里，原告在CECOT备受煎熬，期间他遭到狱警殴打，被置于不人道和过度拥挤的环境中，遭受极端心理创伤，得不到适当医疗照顾，并且与家人和任何法律顾问都失去了联系，”这起开创性的诉讼案中写道。
美国拉丁美洲公民联盟和民主捍卫者基金帮助莱昂·伦格尔提起诉讼，此前该联盟还以他的名义向美国国土安全部提起了行政投诉。这些指控是根据《联邦侵权索赔法》提出的。
“阿德里安·伦格尔所经历的是政府批准的酷刑，以及因为他是移民而忽视其人性的行为，”美国拉丁美洲公民联盟首席执行官胡安·普罗亚诺(Juan Proaño)说。”他理应在法庭上得到公正对待。”
“我从未是帮派成员”
特朗普政府于2025年3月将莱昂·伦格尔和其他200多名委内瑞拉男子驱逐回萨尔瓦多，这一系列驱逐行动引起了全球关注，并在美国引发了法律纠纷。
美国根据1798年的战时法律《外国人敌人法》，以暴力、危险罪犯和特伦德阿拉瓜帮派成员的罪名，不经正当法律程序驱逐了其中一些人。政府使用战时权力立即驱逐被驱逐者的合法性仍在联邦法院审理中。
尽管政府声称，《60分钟》和CBS新闻的调查发现，许多被驱逐的委内瑞拉人没有任何犯罪记录，大多数人也没有暴力犯罪指控或定罪记录。这些人也否认与帮派有联系。
未注明日期的内耶弗·阿德里安·莱昂·伦格尔照片。图片来源：内耶弗·阿德里安·莱昂·伦格尔
莱昂·伦格尔说，在穿越达连隘口和几个拉美国家后，他在2023年通过拜登政府的寻求庇护者项目CBP One，在官方入境点经政府允许进入美国。
文件显示，莱昂·伦格尔在美国曾因一次交通拦截被逮捕，在德克萨斯州因持有毒品用具轻罪认罪，他说发现该物品的汽车不是他的，并支付了小额罚款。
除了这起轻罪外，莱昂·伦格尔的律师表示他没有犯罪记录，尽管他有未决移民案件且没有驱逐令，他还是被驱逐了。CBS新闻查阅的司法部记录显示，莱昂·伦格尔没有驱逐令，且移民法庭听证定于2028年4月举行。
莱昂·伦格尔称，他被认定为特伦德阿拉瓜帮派成员，是因为他左手有一个狮子嘴里叼着理发推子的纹身。他说他在美国和委内瑞拉都曾从事理发工作，否认有任何帮派联系。其他前CECOT囚犯也表示，他们因纹身被指控为帮派成员。
“我从未是帮派成员，也从未是任何犯罪团伙的成员，”莱昂·伦格尔说。”从来没有。”
国土安全部在给CBS新闻的一份声明中坚称莱昂·伦格尔与特伦德阿拉瓜帮派有关联，但该机构拒绝分享支持其说法的证据，称这样做会”损害”国家安全。
“这名非法移民被认定为对公共安全构成威胁，是特伦德阿拉瓜帮派的确认同伙，并被处理为从美国遣返，”国土安全部表示。
华盛顿特区的一名联邦法官最近下令特朗普政府协助遣返根据《外国人敌人法》被驱逐的委内瑞拉男子，首先从哥伦比亚等第三国开始，以便给予他们在美国被剥夺的正当法律程序。该命令在司法部提出上诉后目前处于暂停状态。
但现在已回到委内瑞拉的莱昂·伦格尔表示，鉴于他在美国移民拘留中心的经历，他对返回美国不感兴趣。相反，他说他专注于洗清自己的冤屈。
他说，他的驱逐和拘留侵犯了他的”人权”。
“我们去了美国，一个所有法律都得到遵守的国家，他们有义务遵循法律程序，”他补充道。
Venezuelan man deported to CECOT prison sues U.S. for $1.3 million – CBS News
Updated on: March 24, 2026 / 2:52 PM EDT / CBS News
A Venezuelan man who was deported from the U.S. and detained in the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador last year has become the first known ex-prisoner to sue the U.S. for damages, filing a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday seeking at least $1.3 million in compensation.
In an interview with CBS News, Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 28, described the months he spent at the prison as “total hell.”
The Venezuelan man said he and his fellow detainees were constantly beaten and mistreated by prison guards. He recounted having to drink the same water he and other prisoners bathed in. Prison guards also told him he would be there for 90 years, he said.
“There came a point when I thought about hanging myself with the sheet they gave us,” Leon Rengel told CBS News in Spanish.
Leon Rengel was one of several hundred Venezuelan men deported by the U.S. to El Salvador, where they were held incommunicado in CECOT for roughly four months. They were freed in a prisoner swap in July 2025.
A report by researchers at Human Rights Watch found the CECOT prisoners endured months of physical and psychological abuse, including some cases of sexual assault. It determined that their time in CECOT amounted to “arbitrary detention” and “torture” under international law.
Leon Rengel’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to award him at least $1.3 million for what his lawyers say was false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“For four months, Plaintiff languished in CECOT, during which time he was beaten by guards, subjected to inhumane and overcrowded conditions as well as extreme psychological trauma, denied adequate medical care, and held without contact with his family or any legal counsel,” the first-of-its-kind lawsuit said.
The League of United Latin American Citizens and Democracy Defenders Fund helped Leon Rengel file the lawsuit, which follows an administrative complaint filed on his behalf with the Department of Homeland Security last year. The claims have been filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
“What happened to Adrián Rengel is government-sanctioned torture and a failure to recognize his humanity because he happened to be an immigrant,” said Juan Proaño, the chief executive officer at LULAC. “He deserves his day in court.”
“I’ve never been a gang member”
The Trump administration deported Leon Rengel and more than 200 other Venezuelan men to El Salvador in March 2025, part of a series of removals that garnered global attention and sparked a legal battle in the U.S.
The U.S. deported some of the men with little to no due process under a 1798 wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act, accusing the men of being violent, dangerous criminals and members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The legality of the administration’s use of the wartime powers to summarily expel the deportees continues to be litigated in federal court.
Despite the administration’s claims, a “60 Minutes” and CBS News investigation found many of the Venezuelan deportees did not have any criminal record, and that the majority did not have charges or convictions for violent offenses. The men have also denied having gang ties.
Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel in an undated photo. Courtesy of Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel
After traversing the Darién Gap and several Latin American countries, Leon Rengel said he used a Biden administration program for asylum-seekers, called CBP One, to enter the U.S. in 2023 at an official entry point, with the government’s permission.
Leon Rengel was arrested once in the U.S. after a traffic stop and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia in Texas, documents show. Leon Rengel said the car where the material was found was not his. He said he paid a small fine.
Beyond that misdemeanor, Leon Rengel’s lawyers said he has no criminal history, and that he was deported despite having an active immigration case and lacking a deportation order. Justice Department records reviewed by CBS News do not list a deportation order for Leon Rengel and show he had an immigration court hearing scheduled for April 2028.
Leon Rengel said he was identified as a Tren de Aragua gang member because of a tattoo on his left hand of a lion with a hair clipper on its mouth. He said he has cut hair in the U.S. and Venezuela, and denies having any gang ties. Other former CECOT prisoners have similarly said they were accused of gang membership because of their tattoos.
“I’ve never been a gang member, nor a member of a criminal group,” Leon Rengel said. “Never.”
In a statement to CBS News, DHS maintained that Leon Rengel has links to Tren de Aragua. But the agency declined to share evidence to support its claim, saying doing so would “undermine” national security.
“This illegal alien was deemed a public safety threat as a confirmed associate of the Tren De Aragua gang and processed for removal from the U.S.,” DHS said.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., recently ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of the Venezuelan men deported under the Alien Enemies Act, starting with those in third countries like Colombia, so they can be given the due process he found they were denied in the U.S. That order is now under appeal after being challenged by the Justice Department.
But Leon Rengel, now back in Venezuela, said he’s not interested in returning to the U.S., given his experiences in immigration custody there. Instead, he said he’s focused on clearing his name.
He said his deportation and detention were violations of his “human rights.”
“We went to the United States, a country where all laws are followed, and they were obligated to follow the legal process,” he added.
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