Nassau violates ICE agreement, detaining hundreds longer than legal limit, data shows

Nassau County has violated its own agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, detaining at least 366 immigrants — more than 60% of whom have no criminal record — for longer than legally permitted, a Newsday analysis finds.

More than 2,200 people were detained at the county jail in East Meadow between late January and mid-October — 56% of whom had no criminal record. Of the jail's ICE population, Newsday found 366 people were held longer than the 72-hour legal limit, according to data obtained through a lawsuit by the Deportation Data Project research group and analyzed by Newsday.

Most were detained for up to six days, but 16 people were held for a week or longer.

It’s "very clear" under New York law that local police and jail officials, who are authorized to enforce crimes, are not permitted to enforce immigration violations, said Ify Chikezie, an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union. While entering the U.S. without permission is considered a crime, living in the U.S. afterward — or overstaying a visa — is considered a civil matter.

"We have people being rounded up on the taxpayer's dime in violation of the law," Chikezie said.

A spokesperson for ICE did not respond to questions about those detained for longer than 72 hours.

Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, wrote in a statement to Newsday, "With very few exceptions, primarily based on safety and travel issues, no detainee has been held for more than 72 hours."

A county official provided two examples, including one person detained from June 4-10 due to tuberculosis quarantine that prevented them from boarding a flight, and another person who had to board a 6 a.m. flight on their fourth day of detention "due to plane mechanical issues."

Blakeman partnered with ICE in February, allocating 50 local jail cells for the agency, as part of a promise to advance President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. He has publicly said his focus was on criminals, though he and ICE have repeatedly declined to answer questions about how many immigration detainees have a criminal record. Many were arrested by ICE agents across Long Island, transferred to the East Meadow jail, then transported to federal detention sites in New Jersey or as far as Michigan and Louisiana.

 Suffolk has no such agreement with ICE. But county officials are expected to finalize a $112 million settlement as a result of a separate but related practice of detaining immigrants beyond what was legally permitted.

ICE enforcement has sparked fear across Long Island's Latino communities. Parents have worried about being detained or deported are giving legal custody of their children to someone else, Newsday previously reported. Mothers have described forcing their U.S.-born children to carry passports everywhere they go. Deli owners have watched sales plummet as regular customers fear visiting their usual spots while churches have reported shrinking congregations, and community fundraisers have been canceled. 

The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing Nassau and its police commissioner Patrick Ryder over a separate but related piece of the county’s two-part agreement with ICE. New York Attorney General Letitia James has said these partnerships "may well violate New York law," asking local authorities not to join them. A Colorado court found last year that a local sheriff’s department’s agreement with ICE violated state law.

Blakeman has repeatedly assured the county’s Latino community that he is focused on arresting criminals, rather than "law-abiding waiters, busboys, [and] landscapers." He has continued to promote the same message in his recent bid for governor, stating in a campaign ad this week, "We’re removing very dangerous criminals from our community."

But Newsday’s analysis shows that 56% of the 2,251 immigrants detained in East Meadow since mid-October have no past criminal convictions, nor are presently facing criminal charges. Of those detained for longer than 72 hours, more than 60% do not have a criminal record. Jose Jampiery Morejon Moreta, 30, a journalist who escaped death threats from a terrorist group in his home of Ecuador, was among those detained in East Meadow. ICE agents arrested him last month after an immigration check-in for his asylum case at a Hauppauge U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Application Support Center.

Federal officials are reimbursing Nassau at least $900,000 and up to $1.3 million for detaining immigrants in East Meadow, according to Newsday’s calculations. Blakeman has said the nightly reimbursement rate for each detainee is $195. The county did not answer questions about how much the federal government pays when someone is booked and released within the same day.

Nassau is also reimbursed for other expenses, like guards and transportation at an hourly rate of $37, according to interagency documents obtained by Newsday. The county received a payment of $50,000 from ICE on Feb. 5 to kick off the program.