A federal jury has awarded a group of illegal migrants a $112 million judgment after finding that Suffolk County, New York, improperly held them in custody back in 2017.
A nine-person jury voted unanimously in favor of the migrants this month in a Brooklyn court, awarding “$75 million for unlawful detention and an additional $37 million for due process violations,” News Day reported.
County officials say they disagree with the jury award and will appeal the decision.
“We respectfully disagree with the court and jury decision,” Mike Martino, a spokesman for County Executive Edward P. Romaine, said in a statement. “There are many legal aspects which the county will address during the appeals process.”
Judge William F. Kuntz II in Eastern District Court in Brooklyn ruled that the county had violated the constitutional rights of several hundred immigrants arrested between 2016 and 2018 on immigration detainers.
The purported abuse of migrant rights occurred under the tenure of former Sheriff Vincent DeMarco, who supported a policy of honoring ICE detainers, a practice that ended in 2018 when a court ruling ruled it unlawful.
A court in 2018 claimed that Sheriff DeMarco’s cooperation with federal authorities violated state laws and maintained that holding migrants for 48 hours or more was “unlawful.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Guatemalan national Joaquin Orellana Castaneda, who was arrested and held for two additional days after he posted bail on a local charge. Castaneda was just one of 650 plaintiffs in the class-action suit.
Orellana, who has been deported, testified remotely from Guatemala, and many of the 650 class-action members have also been deported and will be receiving their payments in their home countries, though the formula to make the allotments has not yet been created.
County attorney Chris Clayton maintained that the county should be given immunity from any supposed violations because they were acting as agents of federal authority concerning the immigration enforcement. The judge and jury disagreed. County officials are appealing.
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