Held past release for ICE: 674 people, one county jail, $112 million
Six hundred seventy-four people finished their time in the Suffolk County jail and were not let out, because ICE had asked the county to hold them. In November 2025 a federal jury said the county owed them $112 million. The verdict is not yet final, and that matters.
A public record, not a client of this firm. Everything on this page comes from the court file, the government announcement or the reporting cited at the end. Usher Law Group did not represent anyone in this matter, we publish no results of our own, and nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case.
The case is called Castaneda v. County of Suffolk, and it is about a piece of paper. An ICE detainer is a form on which federal immigration authorities ask a jail to keep holding a person after the person's criminal case is over, so that ICE can come and get them. It is a request. It is not a warrant and it is not a court order.
Suffolk County honored them. The result was that 674 people who had been released by a judge, had finished a sentence, or had posted bail stayed in the county jail anyway, sometimes for days. They sued as a class. On November 10, 2025, a federal jury found for them and awarded $112 million: $75 million on the Fourth Amendment claim, that each hold was an arrest without authority, and $37 million on the due process claim.
That is where the public record we rely on stops. A jury verdict is not a judgment until the judge enters it, and a judgment is not money until the appeals are done. We have not confirmed the post-trial motions or any appeal, so this page calls it what it is: a verdict.
New York City had the same practice for fifteen years, from 1997 to 2012, and in a case called Onadia a class of more than 20,000 people reached a settlement fund of up to $92.5 million, preliminarily approved in December 2024. Final approval is not something we have confirmed either.
What the law calls it
An ICE detainer is a request, not a command, and a county that chooses to hold a person on one is making its own decision, for which it can be liable under Monell (Galarza v. Szalczyk, 745 F.3d 634 (3d Cir. 2014)). In New York, the Appellate Division has held that state law does not authorize local officers to make civil immigration arrests, so holding a person past release on a detainer is an unlawful new arrest (People ex rel. Wells v. DeMarco, 168 A.D.3d 31 (2d Dep't 2018)). A federal court in Florida reached the same conclusion about a sheriff who held a United States citizen on a detainer while ignoring proof of citizenship (Brown v. Ramsay (S.D. Fla. May 30, 2025)), though Florida law separately requires its agencies to honor detainers (Fla. Stat. 908.105).
Because the practice is a policy, the county itself is the defendant, and the claim is the same for everyone it happened to, which is why these cases are classes. In the Second Circuit, loss of liberty is compensable on its own, without physical injury.
What it cost
Castaneda v. County of Suffolk
A class of 674 people held in the Suffolk County jail past their release dates on ICE detainers. Reported as $75 million on the Fourth Amendment claim and $37 million on the due process claim. A verdict, not money paid.
Source: Prison Legal News. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
What it means for you
If you or a family member were kept in a county jail after a judge ordered release, after bail was posted, or after a sentence ended, because of an immigration hold, the extra time is a claim on its own. It does not depend on what happened in the immigration case afterward. Our immigration detainers page explains what a detainer is and is not, and ICE and federal officers explains the different rules when the officers were federal rather than local.
The deadlines are the ordinary ones for a false arrest claim against the county: in New York a notice of claim within 90 days for the state claim and three years for the federal one. If you are in immigration custody now, our sister site icebail.com covers bond and habeas; this site covers the money claim for the days you should not have been held. The deadline tool counts from your release date.
The pages this story points to
Immigration detainers
What a detainer is, why a hold is an arrest, and the two class cases.
Read →False arrest
Detention without authority, and how loss of liberty is valued.
Read →ICE and federal officers
When the officers were federal, and the different claim that applies.
Read →Sources. Prison Legal News, "Massive $112 million jury verdict for detainees held in New York jail past release date on ICE detainers" (January 1, 2026); Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, preliminary approval of the Onadia settlement (December 2024); Galarza v. Szalczyk, 745 F.3d 634 (3d Cir. 2014); People ex rel. Wells v. DeMarco, 168 A.D.3d 31 (2d Dep't 2018); Brown v. Ramsay (S.D. Fla. May 30, 2025); Fla. Stat. 908.105.
Common questions
Has the $112 million been paid?
Not that we have confirmed. It is a jury verdict of November 10, 2025. Post-trial motions and any appeal had not been resolved in the sources we rely on, so this page treats it as a verdict, not as money paid.
Is an ICE detainer a court order?
No. A detainer is a request from ICE that a jail hold a person for up to 48 hours after the person would otherwise be released. In the Third Circuit a county that chooses to honor one can be liable under Monell (Galarza v. Szalczyk), and a New York appellate court has held that state law does not authorize local officers to make civil immigration arrests, so a hold past release is a new arrest without authority (People ex rel. Wells v. DeMarco).
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.