Overview
- U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown detailed that Erron Anthony Clarke was held for days in an overcrowded Central Islip cell without bedding, adequate heat, hygiene supplies, or darkness for sleep.
- DHS refused to provide photographs of the holding room and submitted timelines the judge called evasive and demonstrably false, including an impossible 30-minute transfer to Newark.
- Brown set a Dec. 30 deadline for the government to justify its actions and scheduled a Jan. 12 hearing to show cause why DHS and ICE should not be held in contempt.
- Clarke, a Jamaican national seeking permanent residency after a 2018 visa overstay and a 2023 marriage to a U.S. citizen, was arrested after a biometrics visit and released on Dec. 12.
- The court questioned the arrest paperwork and detention records, noted ICE ignored an order for Clarke’s immediate release on Dec. 11, and flagged evidence suggesting a broader pattern of substandard holding-room use.