In a victory for illegal immigrants, a federal jury today found Suffolk County and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office financially liable and responsible for violating the constitutional rights of hundreds of Long Islanders with detainers unlawfully detained on behalf of federal immigration authorities.
In a unanimous decision, the jury awarded $112 million to the class of 674 people who were part of the 2017 lawsuit against Suffolk County and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department for unlawfully holding individuals in county jails after posting their bail or resolving their cases, for the sole purpose of facilitating the immigration enforcement authorities to take them into federal custody.
The case, Orellana Castañeda et al. v. County of Suffolk and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office et al., does not address current policies in Suffolk County, though the issues at play echo community concerns about local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“This decision brings long-overdue accountability,” said José Pérez, Deputy General Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “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. Today’s verdict is justice served and our clients courage ensures these types of abuses will hopefully not be repeated.”
Suffolk County is trying to get the same protections that federal agencies get when they detain people in this country illegally, especially if they are criminals.
This will have a huge impact on the taxes in Suffolk County. The fact that they were wanted by ICE apparently is not enough to hold them.
There was big money backing these plaintiffs. Most of the money ends up in the lawyers’ pockets.
