A Legal Immigrant Sues Former President Trump for $56 Million, Alleging Kidnapping and Torture by ICE
WASHINGTON — A legal permanent resident from Colombia filed a $56 million lawsuit against former President Donald J. Trump on Thursday, accusing him and senior members of his administration of orchestrating her kidnapping by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, her torture in federal custody and her subsequent abandonment in a notorious foreign prison.
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, claims that Ms. Sofia Ramirez, 38, was seized from her home in Los Angeles in March 2025 without a warrant or court order. It asserts that the operation was part of a secret directive issued by the Trump White House to target certain legal immigrants deemed security risks.
Ms. Ramirez, who has lived lawfully in the United States since 2015 and works as a nurse in a Los Angeles hospital, said the ordeal began when plainclothes ICE agents broke into her apartment at 3 a.m.
She described being hooded, handcuffed and driven to an undisclosed detention center where, according to the complaint, she was subjected to repeated beatings, sleep deprivation and threats of deportation to a country where she faced persecution.
The suit alleges that after two weeks of interrogation, Ms. Ramirez was flown to a prison in a Central American nation with which the United States had no formal extradition or deportation agreement at the time. There, she said, she was left without identification or legal papers and spent four months in overcrowded cells with inadequate food and medical care.
“Agents told me I was no longer American property and that the president had washed his hands of me,” Ms. Ramirez said in a statement released by her lawyers. “I was treated like garbage to be dumped.”
Ms. Ramirez’s attorneys argue that Mr. Trump personally approved expanded ICE authority to conduct “extraordinary removals” of legal residents, bypassing normal due-process protections. Court filings cite internal memos and witness accounts that appear to link the operation directly to the Oval Office.
The $56 million sought includes compensation for physical injuries, emotional trauma, lost wages and punitive damages. The suit names Mr. Trump, his former homeland security secretary and two ICE directors as defendants, claiming they violated her constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
“This is not a simple deportation error,” said Elena Vargas, lead counsel for Ms. Ramirez and a partner at a prominent civil rights firm. “This was a deliberate policy of kidnapping legal residents, torturing them and discarding them abroad. The evidence will show the former president knew exactly what was happening.”
A spokesman for Mr. Trump dismissed the lawsuit as “a politically motivated fabrication” and “a desperate attempt by open-borders activists to harass a president who kept America safe.” The former president’s legal team said they would seek dismissal, arguing that presidential immunity shields Mr. Trump from such claims.
Immigration advocates said Ms. Ramirez’s case reflects a broader pattern during the second Trump administration, when ICE expanded its use of rendition-style tactics against immigrants with legal status but past minor criminal records or alleged gang ties.
“Legal immigrants thought they were protected,” said Carlos Mendoza of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This lawsuit suggests that protection was an illusion for anyone the administration decided to target.”
Ms. Ramirez returned to the United States in July 2025 after intervention by the Colombian consulate and human rights organizations. She has since undergone extensive medical treatment for injuries sustained during her detention.
Her lawyers say the case could set a significant precedent, testing the limits of executive power over immigration enforcement. Federal courts have previously allowed limited suits against high-level officials for constitutional violations, though success has been rare.
Legal scholars following the filing noted the unusually high damage demand signals confidence in the strength of the evidence, including purported emails and recordings that plaintiffs intend to introduce in court.
For Ms. Ramirez, the lawsuit represents more than financial restitution. “I want the world to know what happened to me,” she said. “And I want to make sure it never happens to another legal immigrant who believed in the promise of America.”
The case is expected to draw intense scrutiny as Mr. Trump prepares for potential future political campaigns, with both sides preparing for what could become a protracted and highly public legal battle.
