Two US aviation companies are being sued for their role in transporting Venezuelan men to a notorious Salvadorian maximum-security prison under the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign.
CSI Aviation and GlobalX stand accused of violating civil rights, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress in a federal lawsuit filed this week in Washington DC. The complaint alleges the companies deliberately flew three planes full of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador in March 2025, despite a federal judge ordering the flights to return to the United States.
Over 230 Venezuelan men were expelled to El Salvador and held for four months at the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as Cecot, where they endured torture and abuse. The lawsuit argues that without the aviation companies' participation, "neither Plaintiffs nor the Class would have been rendered to CECOT."
The case represents a rare attempt to hold private contractors accountable for their involvement in alleged human rights violations linked to Trump's aggressive deportation strategy. Anthony Enriquez, vice president of advocacy and litigation for the Kennedy Human Rights Center and one of the attorneys representing the Venezuelan men, underscored the broader significance of the action.
"Many people might not be aware of the degree to which private companies are intertwined with the human rights abuses occurring under the Trump administration through the detention and unlawful deportation schemes," Enriquez said.
The Department of Homeland Security hired CSI Aviation and GlobalX to conduct the El Salvador-bound flights. CSI, incorporated in Texas, serves as the single highest-value recipient of Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts, generating $1.23 billion in ICE revenue in 2025. GlobalX, based in Florida, worked as a subcontractor on the three Cecot-bound flights, with CSI acting as the intermediary between ICE and GlobalX.
On March 15, 2025, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to justify the expulsion of Venezuelans, accusing the government of Nicolas Maduro of orchestrating members of the gang Tren de Aragua to "invade" the United States. The administration rounded up 252 Venezuelan and Salvadorian men held in immigration custody. No evidence was presented that the men were gang members.
The same day the Alien Enemies Act was invoked, GlobalX positioned three planes at a Texas airport to prepare for departure. After takeoff, a federal judge in Washington DC issued an order demanding the flights return, but the administration and airlines ignored the directive and proceeded to El Salvador.
Once in El Salvador, Salvadorian security forces boarded the planes and transported the detainees to Cecot. Many of the Venezuelan men believed they were being sent home. According to a November 2025 Human Rights Watch report, detainees were subjected to "arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance" under international human rights law.
Inside Cecot, guards allegedly beat, pepper-sprayed, and sexually assaulted detainees. The prisoners endured brutal conditions in what HRW described as a facility from which "no detainee had ever left alive." The Venezuelan men were returned to their home country after four months, following a prisoner exchange deal in July 2025. The Salvadorian detainees sent on the same flights remain in custody.
The three main plaintiffs in the case report experiencing daily headaches, sleep disruption, and severe emotional distress. The lawsuit contends that CSI and GlobalX "have enjoyed unprecedented financial profits from the scheme" while the Venezuelan men "continue to experience severe emotional suffering from the humiliation, terror, and cruelty that they endured."
Neither CSI Aviation nor GlobalX responded to detailed requests for comment. The Department of Homeland Security referred all questions to the Salvadorian government, which has not publicly addressed allegations of torture at Cecot.
Federal Judge James Boasberg, who is overseeing related litigation on the original deportations, will preside over the civil rights lawsuit and decide whether the entire class of Venezuelan detainees can proceed with the suit. The companies have not yet filed a response.
Author James Rodriguez: "This lawsuit exposes the uncomfortable truth that corporations, not just government officials, profited handsomely from what amounts to rendition operations conducted on US soil."
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