A federal jury in the Eastern District of New York has awarded $112 million to more than 670 immigrants who were illegally detained by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office solely on the basis of ICE detainers — requests, not warrants — that lacked any showing of probable cause.
The verdict, delivered after an eight-year legal battle and a five-day trial, sends a resounding message to local law enforcement agencies across the country: ICE detainers are not a green light for unlawful detention, and violating constitutional rights carries a steep price. The ruling has been described as one of the most consequential immigration civil rights victories in recent memory.
An Eight-Year Fight Over a Simple Constitutional Principle
The case began in 2017, when Winston & Strawn LLP and LatinoJustice PRLDEF filed suit on behalf of a class of immigrants who were kept in county custody after their criminal cases had been resolved. Some had already completed their sentences.
Others had their charges dismissed. But Suffolk County jail officials continued to hold them — sometimes for days — citing nothing more than an ICE request.
In January 2025, a judge agreed with the plaintiffs, granting summary judgment and ruling that the county had no legal authority to detain individuals for civil immigration purposes without probable cause or a judicial warrant. The court was blunt: the county had “no reasonable belief, much less probable cause” to justify the detentions.
That ruling paved the way for the damages trial — but not before the county mounted a series of last-ditch attempts to avoid accountability, including a failed appeal and an extraordinary claim that it was protected by federal sovereign immunity.
The jury was unmoved.
It awarded $75 million for violations of the Fourth Amendment and New York constitutional protections, and an additional $37 million for Fourteenth Amendment due process violations — a combined total nearly 100 times larger than Winston & Strawn’s next biggest pro bono win.
This Was a Huge, Huge Victory
Immigration attorney LaToya McBean-Pompy called the outcome “historic,” noting that Suffolk County’s practices were not just unlawful but fundamentally at odds with how the Constitution treats liberty.
“These were people who had already spent time in jail or whose cases were dismissed,” she explained. “The Suffolk County jail still kept them there — without a judicial warrant or even probable cause. An ICE detainer alone is not enough. This was a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.”
The Second Circuit had already dismissed the county’s appeal earlier this year, clearing the runway for the damages trial — and making today’s verdict even more consequential.
The Broader Impact: A Warning Shot to Local Jails Nationwide
While the case centers on Long Island, the implications are national. Across the country, hundreds of local jails have struggled — or flatly refused — to reconcile ICE requests with constitutional due process requirements.
McBean-Pompy says this ruling may become a benchmark for other jurisdictions, forcing sheriff’s departments to reassess cooperation policies.
“This sends a clear signal: an ICE detainer is not enough under our Constitution,” she said. “Other jurisdictions should take note.”
A Life-Changing Outcome for Hundreds of Immigrants
The verdict represents not just a legal victory but a deeply personal one for the hundreds of immigrants who were held unlawfully — many of whom had already paid their debts to society or had been cleared of wrongdoing.
Winston & Strawn celebrated the decision as both “life-changing” and “Constitution-affirming,” crediting a cross-office legal team of more than two dozen attorneys and support staff for pushing the case through nearly a decade of litigation.
For the affected immigrants, the ruling finally recognizes the fear, trauma, and injustice they endured.
For every county in America that has relied on ICE paperwork as a basis for extended detention, it marks something else entirely:
A loud, costly, and court-backed warning.
