ICE agents detained Long Island man for 22 days after warrantless arrest at Greenport ferry stop

On February 4, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained H.L.A.O., a 46-year-old Long Island resident, at the Shelter Island ferry stop in Greenport, New York, without a judicial warrant. According to a class-action complaint later filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and The Legal Aid Society, ICE agents approached H.L.A.O. based on his appearance and the language he spoke. He was taken into immigration custody and held for 22 days before being released.

The warrantless stop was among a series of immigration arrests documented in NYCLU v. DHS et al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on April 8, 2026, by the NYCLU, The Legal Aid Society, Make the Road New York, and Covington & Burling LLP. The lawsuit names H.L.A.O. as a plaintiff and alleges that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducted a pattern of unlawful stops, warrantless arrests, and racial profiling of New Yorkers based on race, ethnicity, and national origin, in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Updates

2026-04-08 — Class action filed in E.D.N.Y. naming H.L.A.O. as plaintiff over warrantless arrest [1][2][3]

NYCLU, The Legal Aid Society, Make the Road New York, and Covington & Burling LLP filed NYCLU v. DHS et al. (E.D.N.Y.) on April 8, 2026. The complaint names H.L.A.O. as a plaintiff and alleges that federal immigration agents conducted a pattern of unlawful stops, warrantless arrests, and racial profiling of New Yorkers in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.