A state judge shot down a lawsuit that tried to kill Nassau County’s partnership with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement — ruling the controversial deal does not violate state law.
State Supreme Court Justice Danielle Peterson found the New York Civil Liberties Union’s argument was “completely unfounded” when it claimed the Nassau deal violates the state’s sanctuary laws and has been “devastating for immigrant families, court records showed.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican now running for governor, said the judge’s ruling on Tuesday backed up the stance the deal was “valid and proper.”
“Over the last year, in cooperation with ICE we have removed over 2000 illegal migrants from our communities making every neighborhood safer and more secure,” Blakeman told The Post.
The lawsuit — filed by the NYCLU on behalf of various immigrant advocacy groups and two Nassau residents — claimed the agreement essentially legalized racial profiling in random police stops.
But Peterson wasn’t convinced, and wrote in her decision that fears of “chilling effects” such as residents staying home from church or avoiding public spaces simply amounted to a “subjective chill,” and is not actually proof of any real-world harm, according to her filed decision.
The judge ultimately ruled the county had a “rational basis” to ink the controversial pact with ICE, siding with officials who argued the arrangement boosts public safety and streamlines the handoff of criminal arrestees lacking legal status into federal custody.
Nassau is renting jail cells to the feds and deputizing local detectives as part of its arrangement.
Liberal activists disagreed with the judge’s decision and declared earlier this week that ICE’s enforcement around Long Island “is not normal” after video surfaced of a handcuffed detainee, Isai Santos Caceras, 35, being slammed head-first into a brick wall.
Organizers also said that majority of the nearly 3,000 immigrants held in the Nassau County jail cells for ICE have no criminal records, according to county data.
