Illegal immigrants detained in New York City will be allowed to sue city officials who failed to protect them.

New York City is considering a new bill that would allow immigrants detained in violation of sanctuary city laws to file lawsuits against city officials. Gothamist tells in more detail.

The document was a response to numerous cases of illegal collaboration between city structures and federal immigration agencies.

The essence of the New York City Trust Act

Immigrants unlawfully detained by city police or prison officials will be able to file a lawsuit against city authorities. This mechanism is included in the New York City Trust Act, a bill that has received initial consideration in the City Council.

The bill was introduced by Councilwoman Shahana Hanif of Brooklyn. She stated that the document creates a necessary accountability mechanism following a series of violations of the city's sanctuary city laws.

On the subject: The FBI secretly monitored a closed chat room of immigrant rights activists in New York.

Hanif recalled recent Department of Investigation reports, which state that prison officers and police officers, while cooperating with federal immigration services violated the city's sanctuary laws. Correctional officers coordinated their actions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Department leadership had previously acknowledged this as a violation of city regulations.

Who will be affected by the law and what does it permit?

The bill applies only to persons detained:

• New York City Police;
• Department of Corrections;
• Probation Department.

Those detained in violation of sanctuary city laws will be able to file lawsuits. Additionally, those detained due to the city's illegal collaboration with federal immigration authorities are also eligible.

New York City's sanctuary city laws prohibit the use of city resources and personnel for federal immigration enforcement. Police and jail staff are also prohibited from transferring detainees to ICE. An exception is made only if the individual has been convicted of a serious or violent crime and ICE has a warrant for their arrest.

"This legislation would strengthen our existing sanctuary city policy," Hanif said before the hearing. "If local law enforcement assists ICE in detaining someone, they have no protection right now."

Positions of lawyers and stories of victims

Medha Venugopal, an attorney with the Center for Family Representation, said she recently represented a woman who was placed in federal custody after city child services officers illegally leaked information to ICE agents. She was later released.

Venugopal said she supports the bill, even though it currently does not apply to her client's case.

"No agency has the right to break the law. And there must be consequences," she reported her client as saying.

Deborah Lee, head of immigration practice at Legal Aid Society, also supported the initiative.

"Laws without protection mechanisms are nothing more than empty shells," she noted.

A year ago, the city agreed to pay up to $92.5 million to settle claims that it illegally detained more than 20,000 undocumented immigrants past their release dates. These individuals were held for transfer to ICE. These incidents occurred between 1997 and 2012, before the current sanctuary city laws were enacted.

In a similar case, a court in Suffolk County awarded 700 immigrants $112,000,000.

In both cases, the plaintiffs alleged false imprisonment and violation of the constitutional right to due process, rather than sanctuary city protections.

Criticism of the mayor's office

According to Alexa Aviles, chair of the Immigration Committee, representatives of:

• Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs;
• Department of Corrections;
• Department of Consumer and Employee Protection.

However, not a single representative of the mayor's office came in an official capacity.

“I am deeply outraged by this whole situation,” Aviles emphasized.

Manuel Castro, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, supported the bill, but noted that he was doing so in his private capacity. He stated that the decision on who speaks on behalf of the administration rests with Mayor Eric Adams' team.

Aviles thanked Castro for his participation, but sharply criticized his interactions with the Adams administration:

"You have chosen to partner with a federal administration that has repeatedly abandoned our communities," she concluded.