Venezuelans Sue CSI Aviation and GlobalX Over Deportation Flights

Herz — World Desk · 26 July 2026 at 05:20 · 30s summary · 4 min read

What We Know

On July 17, 2026, Venezuelan nationals filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington DC against CSI Aviation and GlobalX, according to The Guardian. The plaintiffs fault both airlines for their role in deportation flights to El Salvador.

The lawsuit accuses CSI Aviation and GlobalX of transporting the men to El Salvador despite a federal court order commanding the return of the flights, and knowing they would likely be tortured upon arrival.

The charges include civil rights violations, illegal imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence.

Anthony Enriquez, vice president of advocacy and litigation at the Kennedy Human Rights Center, is one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. He emphasizes that private companies are closely tied to human rights violations committed under the Trump administration's immigration policies.

The Accused Companies

CSI Aviation, based in Texas, and GlobalX, headquartered in Florida, were contracted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). For the three flights to El Salvador, CSI acted as an intermediary between the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and GlobalX, to which it subcontracted the flight operations.

CSI Aviation is the leading recipient of ICE contracts in the United States: its ICE-related revenue reached $1.23 billion in 2025, and the company participated in nearly all deportation flights through a multimillion-dollar contract.

Context: The March 2025 Expulsions

On March 15, 2025, Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act—one of four federal laws adopted in 1798 by Federalists in Congress during a naval conflict with France, and ratified by President John Adams—to deport hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants. The administration accused Nicolás Maduro's government of ordering members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal gang with at least 5,000 members active in several South American countries, to 'invade' the United States.

More than 230 Venezuelan men held in American detention centers were deported to El Salvador, where they were imprisoned for four months in the CECOT (Confinement Center for Terrorism), a maximum-security prison located in Tecoluca, in the San Vicente department, and tortured. In total, 252 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men were deported.