Frank Barker, 58, came to the United States as a legal resident from Barbados when he was just nine years old. Having struggled with drug addiction, he was arrested and sentenced to eight months at Rikers Island in 2008. However, upon completing his sentence, instead of being released, Barker was unlawfully apprehended by ICE and detained for an entire year. Sadly, his story is not unique.
Between 1997 and 2012, the NYC Department of Correction unlawfully detained over 20,000 individuals beyond their scheduled release dates. As a consequence, New York City has agreed to pay a significant sum of up to $92.5 million to settle the claims of these individuals, including Barker.
The New York State Supreme Court has approved a settlement that allows individuals who were held past their release dates due to ICE detainer requests to seek compensation. The settlement was presented by the law firms of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LLP, and Benno & Associates, P.C. This ruling provides a pathway for those affected to receive the justice they deserve.
An ICE detainer is a request that local law enforcement receives, asking them to hold an individual for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release. This request allows ICE to take custody of the individual for immigration-related reasons. However, the lawsuit revealed that some individuals were held beyond the 48-hour limit, violating their rights. In some cases, these individuals were held for days, weeks, and even months.
According to Debra L. Greenberger, one of the attorneys involved in the case, the settlement is a significant step towards providing justice for those who suffered from unjust and excessive detention. She expressed pride in being able to bring some measure of justice to these individuals and emphasized the importance of upholding due process of law for everyone.
A lawsuit was filed by Oscar Onadia in 2010 after he was unlawfully detained for 41 days beyond his initial five-day sentence for driving without a license. While Onadia sadly passed away earlier this year, his wife will be receiving $25,000 as part of the settlement, as reported by The New York Times.
New York City is denying any liability in the matter, but they have made an agreement to establish a fund that will provide compensation to the members of the affected class. This fund will also cover the costs of attorneys’ fees and settlement expenses. The amount of the settlement payments will be determined based on the duration of time that individuals were unlawfully detained. Those who were held in violation of the law will be eligible to receive awards ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
According to the press release from the law firm, more than 20,000 individuals were held collectively for over 166,000 days beyond their scheduled release dates. It is noteworthy that some of these individuals currently reside in the United States, while others have returned to their home countries, including Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica.
New York City has ceased to comply with the majority of ICE detainer requests as a result of various laws passed between 2011 and 2014. These laws were implemented to safeguard the rights of immigrants and minimize unjustified detentions by reducing the city’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
The previous policy faced significant backlash due to its impact on immigrant communities, causing fear and reluctance to cooperate with law enforcement out of concern about potential reporting to ICE. Moreover, courts have ruled that ICE detainers do not provide sufficient grounds for probable cause, rendering extended detention unlawful.
“As someone who has lived in fear of ICE and who lost a year of his life to being detained, I applaud this lawsuit and encourage anyone who has experienced similar treatment or who has a family member or friend who has been impacted by this, to take action to be included in this class,” Barker, now living in the Bronx, said.
