US judge releases Bronx man detained by ICE, citing due process violations

A federal judge, citing due process concerns, ordered the release of a Bronx man who was taken into custody during his annual U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in.

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo ruled that ICE had violated 63-year-old Sering Ceesay's due process rights by failing to give him an opportunity to contest his detention.

“How can we pride ourselves on being a nation of laws if we are not willing to extend that most fundamental right to all — if we are not at least willing to ask, before we lock you up, do you have anything to say?” Vilardo wrote in his order granting Ceesay’s release.

Spokespeople for ICE did not respond to requests for comment.

Vilardo’s order, dated May 2, is another in a string of judicial rulings that have run counter to Trump administration immigration arrests and deportations on due process grounds.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled that the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members was unlawful, and he blocked further such deportations to El Salvador.

Last week, a federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, arguing that the Columbia University student was neither a flight risk nor a danger to others.

Elora Mukherjee, director of Columbia Law School's immigrants' rights clinic, said Ceesay’s case offers “a warning to the executive branch about the basic constitutional protections that every person is entitled to on US soil, regardless of their immigration status.”

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this week, President Donald Trump said he “didn’t know” if all people, citizens and noncitizens alike, deserve due process rights.

Ceesay is also among a growing group of immigrants who, since Trump returned to the White House, are being detained during routine ICE check-ins, according to Mukherjee.

ICE is increasingly arresting immigrants, such as Ceesay, who despite losing their deportation court cases were previously allowed to stay in the country, according to Peter Markowitz, director of Cardozo School of Law’s immigration justice clinic.

“This case is an exemplar of what is going on kind of on a larger scale and somewhat obscured from, from public view,” Markowitz said.

Ceesay came to the United States from Gambia when he was 28, according to court filings. An immigration judge issued a removal order against him around 1997. He was later detained by ICE in 2010 and released on an order of supervision, a document allowing him to live in the United States as long as he appeared at routine ICE check-ins.

ICE agents arrested Ceesay during a check-in around Feb. 19. He was transferred to different facilities before ultimately being held in a detention center in Buffalo.

In court documents, Ceesay’s attorneys also argued that Ceesay's detention violated his right to reasonable accommodations, citing his medical disabilities. Ceesay suffers from hypertension, coronary artery disease and chronic heart failure, according to the court papers, and he’s previously had two heart attacks.

While Ceesay was detained, he suffered a transient ischemic attack, a stroke-like syndrome caused by a brief blockage of blood flow to the brain, according to the court filings.

In his ruling, Vilardo wrote that ICE can still deport Ceesay, but said the agency must give him sufficient notice, including time to pack belongings and address his health concerns.

Sering’s attorneys Sarah Gillman and Sarah Decker said in a brief statement that Ceesay remains free since his release from detention on May 3, and he has a hearing regarding his deportation case on Tuesday.