There are cases that go beyond a settlement. Cases that are bigger than one client. Cases that force us to ask what kind of country we want to live in. This is one of them.
Parker & McConkie is pursuing a $56 million lawsuit against the United States government on behalf of a 20 year old Venezuelan man we are calling Johnny Hernandez to protect his identity. What happened to Johnny is something no human being should ever have to endure.
Johnny entered the United States legally on August 22, 2024 alongside four family members who are now living here in Utah. He had no criminal record in the United States. He had no criminal record in Venezuela. He was detained by U.S. immigration officials in San Diego shortly after his arrival and eventually transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, as part of the first group of immigrants sent there by the Trump administration in March 2025.
What Johnny experienced inside that prison was nothing short of catastrophic. Beatings. Solitary confinement. A rubber bullet wound to the shoulder. Torture. He spent four months inside those walls before being released on July 18, 2025 and returned to Venezuela. He is still recovering, physically and mentally, to this day.
Our attorney Jim McConkie said it plainly: “The Trump administration knowingly and unlawfully locked up an innocent person for four months in a concentration camp-like prison.” This was not a mistake buried in paperwork. This was a person whose rights were stripped away while court orders meant to protect him were brushed aside.
Attorney Brent Ward, also working on the case, noted that Johnny is still healing from the unspeakable horrors he experienced in El Salvador. That recovery, for someone who came to this country legally and did nothing wrong, is what drives this case forward.
Parker & McConkie has filed a formal notice of claim against President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Justice Department and their respective agents and employees. The government now has six months to respond. If there is no satisfactory resolution, we will file a federal lawsuit on Johnny’s behalf.
This case is about Johnny. But it is also about something larger. As Jim McConkie noted, when the government detains and deports innocent people on false charges without being held accountable, it does not just put immigrants at risk. It puts all of us at risk.
Parker & McConkie has always believed that people deserve someone in their corner when the system fails them. We are proud to stand in Johnny’s corner, no matter how big the opponent.
We will keep you updated as this case moves forward.
