The law firms of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LLP and Benno & Associates, P.C., announced that the period for filing claims to receive a settlement payment as part of a class action lawsuit against New York City was open and ran through May 15, 2025. The class action settlement of up to $92.5 million USD was reached in Onadia v. City of New York, resolving claims by individuals who were unlawfully detained by the NYC Department of Correction solely based on a US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainer between April 1, 1997, and December 21, 2012. The City of New York denies liability but agreed to establish the class fund to compensate class members and pay attorneys’ fees and settlement costs.
The settlement allows more than 20,000 class members detained beyond their scheduled release dates based on ICE detainer requests to seek a settlement award. Class members include individuals from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, and Guyana. These individuals may or may not still be living in the United States. Depending on the length and date of their overdetention, class members may be eligible to receive awards of $10,000 USD or more.
ICE detainers are requests issued to state and local law enforcement agencies to hold an individual for up to 48 business hours beyond their scheduled release so ICE can take custody of the individual. In some cases, however, individuals were detained for days or weeks beyond those two days. Together, class members were detained more than 166,000 days beyond their scheduled release dates.
Any class member could file a claim regardless of where they are currently living. Lawyers in this case anticipate that a large percentage of class members may have repatriated to their countries of origin or left New York, which is why it is essential to spread the news of this settlement broadly.
Law firms of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LLP and Benno & Associates say more than 20,000 individuals who submit valid claims could receive settlement payments of $10,000 or more; the window to submit claims ran from February 14 to May 15, 2025
“Our constitution protects all human beings within the United States from detention without probable cause, no matter their immigration status. This case teaches that those protections must be respected and that those who choose to ignore the constitution will be brought to account,” said Matthew D. Brinckerhoff, partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.
“We are asking for help from the news media, community organizations, and individuals to share this information with anyone they know who may fit the description of a class member, so they can receive a settlement payment. The claims process is simple and may provide eligible class members with $10,000 USD or more,” said Debra L. Greenberger, partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.
Photo credit: ICE/Flickr.
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