A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered the immediate release of a gay Jamaican asylum-seeker who said his constitutional rights were violated when immigration authorities detained him during a routine check-in earlier this month.
The man, 40-year-old Rickardo Anthony Kelly, fled Jamaica in 2021 after he was shot at 10 times in what he described as a targeted anti-gay attack. According to court filings, Kelly sought asylum in the United States later that year and had been living in New York while working legally as a security guard.
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On Friday, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Kelly’s detention violated his Fifth Amendment rights. She granted his petition for release without requiring a hearing, sharply criticizing the circumstances of his confinement.
Kelly’s arrest highlights growing scrutiny over the use of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan as a temporary detention site for immigrants attending routine court hearings and ICE check-ins. Immigration advocates argue that the practice has created a climate of fear among asylum-seekers and undocumented residents who risk arrest when complying with scheduled appointments.
Earlier this week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and other state officials condemned the deportation of a young girl and her mother to Ecuador after they were detained at the same federal building. At least three New York City public school students have also been detained by ICE at immigration court this year, including a 20-year-old from Guinea. Federal officials, however, have defended the enforcement actions as necessary to uphold immigration law and prosecute illegal entries.
Kelly’s troubles began in January, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained him while he was returning from the Virgin Islands. He was issued a notice to appear in immigration court. At a February check-in, ICE told him to return on August 4.
But in May, Kelly was charged in Queens with third-degree assault and second-degree harassment, according to court records. When he appeared at his August check-in, ICE officers informed him that he would either be detained due to those charges or could pay $1,000 to self-deport to Jamaica. Kelly refused and was immediately taken into custody.
He was first held at 26 Federal Plaza for five days, then transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, before eventually being moved to a jail in Orange County, nearly 70 miles north of New York City.
Court filings described the conditions of his detention as “unconscionable,” “inhumane,” and “horrific.” Kelly alleged that he slept on the floor without a blanket, had no access to his diabetes medication, and was housed in overcrowded, unsanitary facilities that were under frequent lockdown.
His case mirrors claims in a broader class-action lawsuit filed this month, which alleges that immigrants detained at 26 Federal Plaza are subjected to “crowded, squalid, and punitive conditions” while in ICE custody.
For now, Kelly has won his freedom. But his case underscores the continuing clash between federal immigration enforcement and constitutional protections for asylum-seekers — as well as the precarious position of LGBTQ+ immigrants fleeing persecution abroad.
