The City of New York is currently facing a class action lawsuit with a whopping $92.5 million settlement payout after immigrants from other countries, including Mexico, were unlawfully detained in New York City jails by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The claims window for this case has opened a few days ago and the plaintiffs have reported that more than 20,000 people are likely to file valid claims.
Class Action Lawsuit details
The claim filing period for a class action settlement against the City of New York was announced on February 18 by the law firms of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LLP and Benno & Associates, P.C. The claims window runs from February 14, 2025, all the way up to May 15, 2025.
In the case of Onadia v. City of New York, plaintiffs reached a settlement agreement of $92.2 million to be paid out to victims who were unlawfully held by the New York City (NYC) Department of Correction. The arrests were made based solely on “immigration detainers issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) between April 1, 1997, and December 21, 2012.”
An ICE detainer can be explained as a request made to “state and local law enforcement agencies to hold a person for up to 48 business hours after their scheduled release, so that ICE can take custody of the person.”
As a result, there have been certain cases wherein individuals were held for longer than the stipulated two day period with some detainees even being held for weeks at a time. Members of the class action suit were collectively held for 166,000 days longer than their respective scheduled release dates.
The City of New York is maintaining its innocence and denies any wrongdoing. However the City has agreed to the establishment of a class fund in order to compensate eligible class members, and additionally, cover attorney fees and other legal costs.
Eligibility and settlement payout amounts
This settlement will allow over 20,000 unlawfully detained victims to claim their share of the $92.2 million payout. Class members include people from the following countries:
- Mexico
- The Dominican Republic
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Ecuador
- Cuba
- Colombia
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Honduras
- Guyana
Depending on the length and date of their overdetention, Class Members may be eligible to receive awards of $10,000 or more. Payment amounts are determined based on duration and dates of each detainee’s extended detention. This means that the payout amount could increase for some class members.
Eligible members of this lawsuit may file their claims regardless of whether they are currently residing in the United States of America or not. It has been anticipated by the attorneys of this case that a huge fraction of the impacted class members were potentially repatriated to their home countries. Alternatively, at the very least, they might have left the city of New York and as such, it is imperative that news of this lawsuit and claim window dates are spread widely.
Matthew D. Brinckerhoff, a partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, and attorney in this case has shared, “Our Constitution protects all human beings within the United States from detention without probable cause, regardless of immigration status. This case teaches that those protections must be respected and that those who choose to ignore the Constitution will be held accountable.”
Additionally, Debra L. Greenberger, a partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP also noted that they are “asking the media, community organizations and individuals to help share this information with anyone they know who may fit the description of a class member, so that they may receive a settlement payment. The claim process is simple and can provide eligible class members with $10,000 or more.”
If you, or someone you know fits the eligibility criteria for this class action settlement, you may file your claims at https://www.NYCICEsettlement.com/. Alternatively, you can call 1-800-479-0810 or email [email protected].