NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Frank Barker, 58, was brought to the United States as a legal resident from Barbados at the age of nine. After battling drug addiction, he was arrested and served an eight-month sentence at Rikers Island in 2008. But instead of being released, Barker was picked up by ICE and held for a year in a detention center illegally. He is not alone.
Cases like Barker’s resulted in New York City agreeing to pay up to $92.5 million to resolve claims from more than 20,000 individuals who were unlawfully detained beyond their scheduled release dates by the NYC Department of Correction between 1997 and 2012.
The settlement, presented to the court by the law firms of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LLP, and Benno & Associates, P.C., which allows individuals held past their release dates due to ICE detainer requests to seek compensation, was approved Wednesday by the New York State Supreme Court.
An ICE detainer is a request sent to local law enforcement asking them to hold an individual for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release, allowing ICE to take custody for immigration-related reasons. However, the lawsuit found that some people were held far longer, sometimes for days, weeks, and months violating their rights.