Deadline extended for former detainees to get their piece of $92.5 million Rikers settlement

The deadline for former detainees who were unlawfully detained by the Department of Correction at the direction of federal immigration enforcement to claim their part of a $92.5 million settlement has been extended. AP file photo by Ted Shaffrey

By Jacob Kaye

Immigrants living in New York who were unlawfully held on Rikers Island because federal immigration agents asked the city to do so have another three months to claim their share of a $92.5 million class action lawsuit settlement.

The window for eligible former detainees to apply for the payment of $10,000 or more as part of the class action suit known as Onadia v. the City of New York was extended on Thursday – the day originally marked as the deadline for claims – until Aug. 15, 2025.

Any detainee who was held by the city’s Department of Correction beyond their originally scheduled release date between April 1, 1997 and Dec. 21, 2012, based solely on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement request to hold the individual is eligible to apply for a portion of the settlement in the case.

Those who were held for longer periods of time will receive larger payouts.

The class action lawsuit first began in 2017, when a group of detainees said the DOC violated their rights when they held them beyond their release date. The city reached a settlement in the case in December 2024.

Attorneys with Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, which represented the detainees, said they believe as many as 20,000 people may be eligible for the settlement money.

Debra Greenberger, a partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, said that her firm has been “pounding the pavement” looking for people who may have a right to the money.

It’s been difficult to find claimants though.

Not only did some of the cases happen decades ago, but many of the potential claimants were believed to have been deported as a result of their unlawful detention.

The new claim deadline comes as the city is again attempting to allow ICE to conduct investigations on Rikers Island.

Though the Adams administration signed an executive order allowing the federal immigration agency to return to the jail complex, ICE has not yet been allowed on the island after the City Council sued the mayor over the order. A Manhattan judge said last month that the agency would be prevented from conducting investigations in the city’s jails until the lawsuit is litigated in court.

Greenberger said that while the cases are unrelated, the Adams administration should look to the Onadia case for a lesson in history.

“If the city starts honoring these ICE detainers, they are really opening themselves up to substantial financial liability,” she said.