SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. (PIX11) — More than 600 immigrants will be awarded $112 million after a federal judge ruled they were unlawfully detained for ICE in Suffolk County, court documents show.
Suffolk County and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office were determined to be financially liable and responsible for violating the constitutional rights of 674 people who were held in county jails in 2017, even after posting their bail or resolving their cases, the judge ruled.More Local News
“This decision brings long-overdue accountability,” said José Pérez, Deputy General Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, which represented the plaintiffs. “The jury confirmed what we have argued all along, that Suffolk County’s actions trampled the basic due process rights guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.”
The ruling comes after a 34-year-old Long Island resident and an immigrant from Guatemala filed a complaint saying he was held in a Suffolk County jail beyond his scheduled release date for ICE’s administrative convenience, according to court documents.
The plaintiff was arrested in April 2017 in Central Islip, where Suffolk County police questioned him about his immigration status, his lawyers said.
Despite his cousin paying $1,000 bail under the agreement that the plaintiff would appear in immigration court, he was never informed that his bail had been paid and was instead transferred to the Varick Street Detention Center in Manhattan, the complaint said. He was later taken to the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey.
A federal judge found that the Long Island resident had been seriously injured, both
physically and mentally, suffered a loss of enjoyment of life, loss of liberty, emotional distress, great humiliation, economic loss, and more.
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