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Detainees in NYC post-9/11 reach $1.26 million settlement
Five immigrant men who were detained in roundups in New York and eventually deported following the Sept. 11 attacks have reached a $1.26 million settlement with the U.S. government.
The men were part of a lawsuit against the government over the roundups that put them in federal detention and the abuse they say they suffered while they were there. Two other plaintiffs are still part of the lawsuit.
Rachel Meeropol, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the detainees, said she hoped the settlement would serve as a deterrent to prevent similar government practices.
"Our hope is that it will keep the government from rounding up individuals based on religion and ethnicity," she said Tuesday. "My clients were really treated as terrorists based on nothing more than their religion and where they came from."