Illegal Alien Gets $145k For Civil Rights Violations In N.Y.

An illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record got a sweet bon voyage present from New York taxpayers before finally getting deported—$145,000 for having his civil rights violated during one of his many arrests in the Empire State.

Only in America can a repeat criminal who’s in the country illegally get large sums of money from the government whose laws he repeatedly violates. In a story that may seem unreal to many Americans, the illegal alien from Barbados won a civil rights lawsuit against the New York City Department of Corrections for detaining him too long.

With a rather lengthy rap sheet for various crimes, the illegal immigrant (Cecil Harvey) had been arrested at least three times before finally being deported a few years ago after his fourth arrest. When his latest criminal case got resolved, New York City officials kept him until federal immigration authorities finally moved him for deportation.

Here is where the supposed civil rights violations took place. Harvey should have bee moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility within 48 hours of his state criminal case being resolved. Instead, he remained in state custody for 35 days with an ICE “detainer” or “hold” like thousands of other state inmates who are earmarked for deportation.

A civil rights advocacy group helped the illegal alien sue the state for violating his civil rights by exceeding the 48-hour detention limit, claiming that he should have been transferred to federal custody upon resolution of his last criminal case. This week a federal judge awarded the illegal immigrant $145,000 for his pain and suffering. To avoid more lawsuits, New York jail officials say now they release deportable criminals and “it’s ICE’s problem to go find these guys.”

The feds contend that they were never notified about this particular illegal immigrant, which is typical in these sorts of situations. Finger pointing between local and federal authorities is par for the course in cases like this and occurs nationwide between police and immigration officials.

A classic example occurred a few years ago when a police department in Rhode Island claimed it had contacted federal immigration officials about a violent and previously deported illegal alien who kidnapped and raped a woman. Providence Police officials said that ICE didn’t bother deporting the Guatemalan man after his first few crimes even after learning about his violent history. In turn, ICE asserted that it was never contacted.