This case was one of two related actions filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York by plaintiffs who were investigated for suspected terrorist ties in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and were eventually deported or left the U.S. The other case was styled Turkmen v. Ashcroft [IM-NY-7]. Both cases were assigned to District Court Judge John Gleeson.

The plaintiffs were Muslim aliens from Egypt and Pakistan that were arrested and detained in the Metropolitan Detention Center ("MDC") in Brooklyn, New York after being classified as "high interest" subjects in the government's 9/11 terrorism investigation. They alleged a broad range of claims that fell into two categories: (1) that their initial detention for immigration violations was a pretext to detain them while the FBI investigated them for terrorist activity and (2) that the conditions of their confinement flagrantly violated the Constitution. They specifically alleged violations of the First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments; international law; the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350; the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA"), 42 USC § 2000bb; the civil rights conspiracy statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3); and the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq.

The first plaintiff was released and returned to his native Pakistan.

The government moved to dismiss the case on various grounds, including that the individually named defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. Judge Gleeson denied their motion on qualified immunity grounds. Elmaghraby v. Ashcroft, No. 04 CV 1409, 2005 WL 2375202 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 27, 2005). After Judge Gleeson's ruling on the motions to dismiss, the United States settled the second plaintiff's claims for the sum of $300,000.

Defendants pursued an interlocutory appeal as to the denial of qualified immunity for the first plaintiff's claims. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the rejection of the defense of qualified immunity by the District Court, except as to the claim of violation of procedural due process rights. Iqbal v. Hasty, 490 F.3d 143 (2nd Cir. 2007). The government filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court on December 17, 2007.

On May 18, 2009 the Supreme Court reversed the Second Circuit, holding that detainee's complaint failed to plead sufficient facts to state claim for purposeful and unlawful discrimination. The first plaintiff's case was settled effective November 11, 2009.

Dan Dalton - 01/04/2008
Nadji Allan - 10/23/2014


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