A Venezuelan man is taking legal steps against the US government, saying he was wrongly deported and detained in El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison. Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, filed an administrative claim Thursday with the Department of Homeland Security,

A makeup artist who became the face of more than 250 Venezuelan migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador's most notorious prison arrived home to his family after what he described as "an encounter with torture and death.

The alleged beatings began as soon as the Venezuelans arrived in El Salvador, Yamarte Fernandez said. The men, who were in handcuffs and chains, were immediately removed from the plane and taken to CECOT, where they say they were kicked, beaten and shaved.

U.S. District Judge Boasberg weighs new allegations in the Trump administration's immigration case after blocking the administration's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans.

The exuberant homecoming was in stark contrast to the welcome he received in March at El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where he says he and over 200 other Venezuelan nationals, accused by the Trump administration of being members of the gang Tren de Aragua, were violently ushered into the facility.

Francisco Javier Casique, one of 252 Venezuelans quietly deported to the mega prison, told Newsweek about their four-month detention in El Salvador.

“I’ve talked to the highest level at ICE,” U.S. border czar Tom Homan said in April, “and they’ve reassured me several times: Everyone that was removed under the Alien Enemies Act was a gang member and a terrorist.”