Overview
- Parker & McConkie, which filed a notice Tuesday, seeks $56 million and names President Trump, DHS, ICE, the State Department and the Justice Department.
- The client, identified as “Johnny Hernandez,” is a 20-year-old Venezuelan who attorneys say entered the U.S. legally and has no criminal record in either country.
- U.S. officers detained him in San Diego after his Aug. 22, 2024 entry and transferred him in March 2025 to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, where he alleges torture, beatings, a rubber-bullet wound and solitary confinement.
- He was freed July 18, 2025 in a mass return of 252 Venezuelans and sent back to Venezuela, and his lawyers say he still suffers lasting physical and psychological injuries.
- A December 2025 ruling found the deportations of Venezuelans violated due process, and records show the U.S.–El Salvador transfer program sent hundreds to CECOT even though few had violent U.S. convictions.