New York City has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit by paying $92.5 million. The lawsuit accused the city of unlawfully prolonging the detention of migrants in city jails beyond their scheduled release. This practice was allegedly done to accommodate federal immigration enforcement officers and initiate deportation proceedings. Some migrants were reportedly held for weeks longer than necessary before being handed over to federal authorities.
According to The New York Times, the plaintiffs, who initiated the lawsuit over a decade ago, claimed that the city unlawfully detained over 20,000 individuals between 1997 and 2012. These individuals were held beyond their scheduled release dates as a result of requests from ICE to temporarily hold them.
A settlement was granted preliminary approval on Wednesday by State Supreme Court Justice Mitchell J. Danziger. The settlement will allocate funds to a group of immigrants who were detained by the Department of Correction. The amount each immigrant will receive will be based on the duration of their “overdetention.”
According to Gothamist, one detainee who was kept in custody for an extra 41 days after serving a five-day sentence for unlicensed driving will receive a minimum payout of $25,000. The lawyers representing the plaintiffs, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP and Benno & Associates, stated that the immigrants in question were collectively held for over 166,000 days beyond their scheduled release.
The city’s Law Department responded to the settlement by stating that city officials had operated under the assumption that compliance with ICE detainers was mandated by federal law.
In the end, court rulings brought clarity to the situation, stating that localities cannot keep a detainee beyond their release date solely based on a federal detainer. It was determined that a court order is necessary. New York City adjusted its policies in 2012 to align with these court rulings.
Lawyers now have the daunting task of finding the individuals who were detained, many of whom are now spread out across the world or have sadly passed away. This presents a unique challenge as some of the class members are currently residing in various countries in the Americas, such as the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Debra Greenberger, a key attorney in the case, acknowledged the difficulty in finding suitable individuals for the case. She emphasized that people would have the option to file their claims online and assured that her team would collaborate with local organizations to effectively disseminate information.
According to Gothamist, under the current law and practice, the city imposes strict limitations on its cooperation with ICE. The city only complies with detainer requests that are accompanied by a judicial order and involve individuals who have been convicted of one of the 177 specified crimes, or individuals who are listed on a terrorism watch list. Supporters of the “sanctuary” measures argue that these limitations help foster cooperation between the public and law enforcement.
The payout is happening at a time when immigration is becoming a prominent issue in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams is contemplating the use of executive orders to eliminate the city’s sanctuary measures, which have been in place for several decades across the five boroughs.
The mayor has expressed his strong disagreement with the law, aligning himself with the Trump administration. In a recent interview on Fox, the Democratic mayor hinted that Tom Homan, the incoming border czar, might play a role in determining the fate of these measures. The two had a meeting on December 12th to discuss matters related to migrants.
“We both agreed that individuals with a history of violence should not be allowed to stay in our country,” Adams stated firmly. “Our city has established laws on how to handle such cases. In order to assess the possibility of implementing an executive order, my legal team will be engaging in discussions with his legal team.”
Adams also suggested that Homan desires access to Rikers Island, a city jail facility where detainees are held before their trials. According to Politico, existing regulations prevent the city from granting ICE permission to utilize municipal facilities.
According to Adams, the law implemented during the previous administration strictly prohibited any ICE officer from entering a governmental building without any exceptions. However, Adams mentioned that they are currently examining these exceptions.
