New Lawsuit Challenges Nassau Police Handling ICE Duties

MINEOLA, NY — A lawsuit was filed this week challenging Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The suit was filed Tuesday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

It's the first lawsuit to take on the 287(g) statute in New York state, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which shared a copy of the suit on its site. At issue is Blakeman giving the Nassau County Police Department a role in handling ICE activities.

Back in February, Blakeman announced the details, which included having 10 detectives immediately join the ICE program.

"We are going to cross-designate and embed Nassau County police detectives with ICE," Blakeman said at the time.

However, Professor Stefan Krieger of Hofstra Law Clinic, who helped construct the lawsuit, said the statute is not legal.

"We allege in the petition that the agreement is not consistent with New York law because it allows for the arrest of individuals pursuant to an ICE civil warrant, and New York law doesn't allow for that," Krieger told Patch.

Susan Gottehrer, Chapter Director for the Nassau County Civil Liberties Union, concurs.

"Basicially, we know that authorizing law enforcement to do the work of ICE agents was already determined to not be legal in New York State," Gottehrer told Patch.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James' office said they are aware of the lawsuit but could not provide a comment at this time.

While ICE activity in Nassau County has stepped up in recent weeks, including the high-profile detaining of a bagel shop manager from Port Washington, Krieger said their legal action is solely aimed at Nassau police officers acting as ICE agents.

"The police department is spending time on alleged problems and ignoring the types of criminal activity that they should be focusing on," Krieger said. "It's taking resources from the county and using it for improper federal purposes."

Gottehrer said: "Law enforcement agencies handle criminal law. I think it's important that people understand that immigration is civil law and I don't think a lot of people know that."

The county and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder are named in the suit, which was filed on Tuesday in State Supreme Court in Nassau County. Blakeman was not specifically named as a defendant in the suit. Patch, though. attempted to reach Blakeman's spokesperson.

The Central American Refugee Center in Hempstead, the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, based in Garden City and the Haitian American Family of Long Island, based in Freeport, are listed as the plaintiffs.

As outlined in the court document, "The decision to enter into the agreement was undertaken despite clear historical evidence that such arrangements invariably result in rampant racial profiling."

Krieger added: "It's helping documented immigrants from having the ability to fully go to the police department for fear that it may [rebound] against them. This atmosphere of fear is not good, not only for the immigrant community but for the entire county."

Gottehrer said that fear will hurt the police department from effectively doing their job.

"When the police do handle these cases, the community then doesn't really know if they can trust their local police officers," she said. "A lot of the ambulances in Nassau County are Nassau County Police ambulances. If you're afraid and hiding at home, how quick are you going to be to call 911?"