Federal jury awards $112M to immigrants illegally held longer by Suffolk authorities in years-old case

A federal jury found Suffolk County liable for $112 million in a nearly decade-old case centered on the detention of immigrants in the country illegally.

The nine-person jury returned a unanimous verdict shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, concluding a weeklong trial before Judge William F. Kuntz II in Eastern District Court in Brooklyn.

Andrew Case, supervising counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a Manhattan-based advocacy group that filed the suit along with a law firm in 2017, said the jury awarded $75 million for unlawful detention and $37 million for due process violations.

Suffolk County plans to appeal the decision.

"We respectfully disagree with the court and jury decision," said Mike Martino, spokesman for County Executive Edward P. Romaine, in an email. "There are many legal aspects which the county will address during the appeals process."

Judge Kuntz ruled in January that Suffolk County violated the constitutional rights of hundreds of immigrants held on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers between 2016 and 2018. Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied the county's request to delay the trial.

The plaintiffs had sought $150 million, Case said.

The $75 million was awarded based on the January ruling, while the additional $37 million on the separate due process claim. Case said that meant the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office "failed to provide the detainees notice and an opportunity to be heard."

"There will certainly be an appeal," he added, "but this is a verdict that would vindicate the rights of these [650] people and would compensate them for the suffering that they felt."

Case said their team stuck to a message that the "dignity and the suffering of people who are unlawfully incarcerated is just as important if they are undocumented immigrants as if they are citizens or anyone else."

The case stems from Suffolk's policy under former Sheriff Vincent DeMarco to honor ICE detainers, a practice halted after a 2018 court ruling found it unlawful.

The original complaint was filed on behalf of Joaquin Orellana Castaneda, an immigrant from Guatemala, who had been stopped by Suffolk police for a traffic violation and booked on a driving while intoxicated-related arrest. He was held on an ICE detainer for two days after his bail was posted on the local charge.

Orellana testified remotely during the trial from Guatemala, Case said. DeMarco and current Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. both testified as well.

An expert hired by the plaintiffs testified the average detainee was held about 35 hours. Case said it ranged from a few hours to multiple days.

Case said many of the defendants in the 650-person class-action case have been deported and it’s now the advocacy group's responsibility to track them down "and give them their money."

He said it’s unclear of the exact formula used to determine how much each of the impacted detainees receive.

County attorney Chris Clayton said at an October budget hearing that the county is entitled to immunity because it acted under federal authority, an assertion the court had dismissed.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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