There are a rapidly growing number of immigrants detained on Long Island and across the country who’ve successfully convinced judges the government jailed them illegally, bringing fresh attention to a centuries-old legal maneuver that’s become a lifeline for many swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Between Nov. 1 and Feb. 10, 108 people filed these petitions in the Eastern District — after only 19 in the first 10 months of last year, according to a Newsday analysis of federal court records.

Judges in the district, which covers Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, have freed the petitioner in 80 of the 95 cases where they have issued decisions, the analysis showed. The other cases are ongoing or were transferred to other courts.

Josefa Velásquez and Anastasia Valeeva report in NEWSDAY that nationwide, people have filed more than 19,000 habeas petitions since the start of 2025, more than three-quarters of them since November.

"The explosion of habeas cases is remarkable," said Peter Markowitz, an immigration law professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York City.

Habeas corpus, Latin for "produce the body," is one of the oldest tools in America’s legal system, giving judges the power to weigh whether someone’s detention is legal. So why the explosion?

The U.S. Justice Department last fall expanded use of a law allowing mandatory detention of immigrants without a bond hearing if they entered outside an official entry point, even if it was years or decades prior. Previous administrations, including during Trump’s first term, didn’t typically jail these people without additional reason, such as criminal charges against them.

More than 5,236 people had been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York City and surrounding suburbs, including Nassau and Suffolk counties, between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15, 2025, according to federal immigration data published by the Deportation Data Project research group and analyzed by Newsday.

ICE released data this month showing that 70,766 people were in detention nationwide, and have said nearly 3 million people had already been removed from the country. This means that fewer than 1% of people detained by ICE have been able to file petitions challenging their apprehension and jailing.

Immigrants targeted for deportation had cases heard in a dedicated immigration court, but the administration’s new policy effectively cut the judges there out of the bond hearing process. Lawyers for these men and women suddenly found themselves unable to protest their detentions in immigration court, so they turned to federal court.

Habeas corpus petitions have proved effective in federal court, experts told Newsday, since their sole intent is to challenge a person’s jailing by the government, and the administration is denying bond hearings or individual review of people’s cases.

***

Starting this afternoon, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend in-person, online and phone services for several days as it replaces its outdated technology systems. Nicholas Grasso reports in NEWSDAY that as of 2 p.m. today, DMV locations across Long Island and the state will close their doors, according to a department news release.

Why is the DMV closing?

The DMV must halt services to install and test the new software that has been developed over the past two years, the department said. The upgraded system will make routine transactions at the DMV "more efficient for our staff and for customers alike," Walter McClure, the department's director of public information, told Newsday.

How will I be affected by the service shutdown?

New Yorkers must wait until Wednesday to perform any transaction at the DMV, such as renewing a license or registering a vehicle. Even completing a change of address, retrieving a driving record and other tasks drivers...

"Harsh winter riddles Long Island roads with potholes" is a NEWSDAY headline this morning. A particularly snowy winter, and repeated plowing by heavy trucks, has contributed to the common complaints resurfacing this year. A Brookhaven Town councilman counted 117 potholes last Friday along a 5-mile stretch of Route 25 between Selden and Lake Grove. The state plans to completely resurface Route 25 in Brookhaven, but officials wouldn't provide a timeline. Long-lasting pothole repairs generally require dry conditions and temperatures above 40 degrees. Also asphalt plants don’t generally open up before March.

New York State Department of Transportation spokesman Stephen Canzoneri said crews are "working aggressively" to address potholes caused by the harsh winter across Long Island. He said the agency plans to completely resurface Route 25 in Brookhaven, though he did not provide details on the timeline, adding that it "is engaged in the most aggressive road revitalization project in the Department’s history."

Peter Gill and Carl MacGowan report in NEWSDAY that in 2024, 61% of state-owned lane-miles were in good or excellent condition across New York, an improvement from 54% five years earlier, according to official reports, which do not break out data by region.

Long Island's local roads, however, are in worse condition than those of most state regions, according to the most recently available database of federal aid-eligible roads from 2021. A Newsday investigation found local governments in Nassau and Suffolk spend less on roads, per capita and per car, than those in other regions of the state. At the same time, Long Island's towns and counties receive less road aid through formulas determined by the state, relative to population and road mileage.

Pothole complaints may be more common on state-owned thoroughfares than town or village roads because they get the most traffic, requiring more upkeep, according Daniel Loscalzo, a civil engineer with LiRo Group, which consults on roads for a dozen villages on Long Island.

Residents can report potholes they see to the appropriate state, county, town or village road department. An online map from the state can help determine who maintains the road in question here.

For state highways, one can call 800-POTHOLE (800-768-4653).

***

There was a time on the East End when one thought nothing about leaving your car unlocked with the keys in it.

No longer.

Southampton Town Police are searching for an organized group of would-be thieves who are believed to have swept through neighborhoods in Noyac and Hampton Bays this past weekend, rummaging through unlocked cars.

A Hampton Bays homeowner’s Ring security camera caught at least four people emerging from what appears to be a rented van before dawn on Monday morning, fanning out to various driveways in the neighborhood and searching unlocked cars — before racing back to the van and fleeing in the van when a resident spotted them and chased them from his driveway.

Southampton Town Police said that they have seen the video, which was also posted to the Neighbors app, and are trying to identify the band of thieves. Police also received a report of a similar type of incident in Noyac the night before.

“It’s a pattern that law enforcement has been seeing all over the region for some time now — sometimes it’s a rented car, sometimes a rented van, and they’re coming into a neighborhood and searching cars,” Town Police Detective Sergeant Gina LaFerrera said. Police have not received any reports from homeowners about any items or valuables having been stolen in the burglaries this weekend. Nonetheless, she said that homeowners should protect their property against being victims of this kind of...

A proposal to expand a luxury hotel in Southampton Village has won preliminary approval for $1.64 million in tax breaks.

The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency gave an early go-ahead to the tax breaks for the proposed 40-room hotel on Hill Street. The project, which will have eight units of workforce housing, is next to the Southampton Inn, a 90-room hotel. The owners are the same.

Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that the average nightly rate at the new hotel, which will feature a heated pool, is expected to peak at around $800 in July and August, according to a market analysis prepared by the property's owner. An office building on the property will be converted into eight one-bedroom workforce apartments. Another office building will be refurbished.

The $29 million project is expected to generate a “net public benefit” of $2.5 million over 15 years, said Kevin Gremse, of Grow America, a consulting firm that works for the IDA. Gremse cited a likely revenue boost from Suffolk County's 5.5% hotel occupancy tax.

"This is a shot in the arm for the village and the community, and the people who choose to live there on a year-round basis. They need it,” said Dede Gotthelf, owner of the Southampton Inn and managing partner of 71 Hill LLC, which owns the property, during a recent presentation to the IDA.

But the proposal has drawn some criticism from public officials. An IDA member who opposed the relief said locals will likely be priced out of the hotel. A Southampton Village trustee said the project should include more workforce apartments.

Josh Slaughter cast the lone vote against the preliminary tax breaks during the IDA's meeting on Jan. 29. The owner could hike room rates and not need the public assistance, Slaughter said at that meeting.

The Suffolk County IDA has scheduled a Feb. 20 hearing on the tax relief. A final vote is expected on Feb. 26.

***

Walmart is planning to convert its Riverhead store into a supercenter, the national retailer’s one-stop shopping destination, combining a full-service supermarket offering groceries, bakery, deli, meats and produce with a discount department store. Denise Civiletti reports in Riverheadlocal.com that Walmart representatives met yesterday with Riverhead Planning Department staff to discuss the company’s plans during a pre-submission conference at Riverhead Town Hall.

The footprint of the existing store, currently about 167,000 square feet including the outdoor garden center, would be expanded to about 180,000 square feet under the current plans, according to engineer Alek Kociski of Bohler Engineering.

The plan is to build an addition in the area presently occupied by the outdoor garden center and convert the tire center, which is not active, into retail space. The entire interior of the store will be redesigned to accommodate the new supermarket’s offerings.

The expansion will require the purchase of development rights to allow additional floor area in the shopping center, Riverhead Senior Planner Greg Bergman told the Walmart representatives. The developer in 2010 purchased 41 development rights to build the original center, to develop the Walmart store and the other buildings on the site.

The expansion plan will require no variances, Walmart attorney Brian Kennedy said.

Suffolk County DPW may ask for a traffic study, Bergman said.

Since the supercenter will have a deli and a bakery, grease traps are needed, so that requires health department approval, Senior Planner Matt Charters said.

Jason Klipa, Walmart’s director of public affairs for New York said he couldn’t estimate when the company will file its application for an amended site plan approval, but it will begin working on preparing the necessary documents. The “next closest thing” to the Riverhead supercenter would be the Yaphank Walmart, which opened about six or seven years

In a major boost to its ongoing push for a sewer, Southampton Village announced its intention to purchase the Windmill Lane property where the Express News Group office is located as part of a plan to build a wastewater treatment facility. Once acquired using money from the Southampton Town Community Preservation Fund, the Express News Group building — located at 135 Windmill Lane — would be demolished in order to turn the site into a new dog park. Then, the treatment facility would be built behind the Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance’s building, while leaching fields will be built at the dog park’s current location at 205 Windmill Lane.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that The Express News Group, which publishes The Southampton Press, does not own 135 Windmill Lane but is the sole tenant of the building.

The Village of Southampton is using money from the Community Preservation Fund to acquire the property, though the village would be responsible for paying for the building’s demolition, according to Mayor Bill Manger.

The plan will be discussed at the Village Board’s meeting this coming Thursday, February 12, at the Southampton Cultural Center at 6 p.m., which will feature members of the village’s sewer district task force and an engineer from D&B Engineers & Architects. Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker will also be in attendance, as Manger said that the village is working with Suffolk County to secure funding to build the plant.

Installing a sewer has been a longtime goal for Southampton Village.

Building the facility is a key part of the sewer plan, as it would create opportunities to build new medical offices and restaurants, two “wet uses” currently barred by the Suffolk County Board of Health without a sewer system. It would also allow for apartments located on the second story of Main Street buildings to be used as such, which has also been barred, and prevent the flow of nitrogen and other harmful elements into groundwater and bodies of water.

“It means that the entire central business district of the village will eventually be hooked up to a treatment plant, thereby negating the need for antiquated septic tanks that are basically just polluting the groundwater and bodies of water like Lake Agawam,” Mayor Manger said.

***

Things have seemed a bit quiet lately at the East End Food Hub site at the gateway to Riverhead, but that’s about to change.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the non-profit East End Food received a temporary Certificate of Occupancy from the Riverhead Town Building Department in late January, according to Interim Executive Director Kayla Barthelme who said they’re planning to begin pop-up programming in the space next month.

The non-profit will be installing its commercial kitchen equipment this summer, she said, and will be putting in landscaping to enable it to receive its final Certificate of Occupancy this spring.

East End Food, founded in 2010 as the Amagansett Food Institute, is on a mission to connect farmers, food producers, consumers and institutions that have food service programs, to ensure that food grown on the east end isn’t wasted.

The non-profit, which for years had operated out of the kitchen at Stony Brook Southampton College, has been working on Phase 1 of an ambitious plan to renovate the former Homeside Florist at the corner of Route 25 and Route 105 in Riverhead.

The building will be used as a food processing site for fresh produce grown on the twin forks, and for an indoor sales space showcasing foods made by local producers.

***

The Town of Southampton Youth Bureau will host an Open Mic Night for local youth on Friday, February 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hampton Coffee Company’s newest location, 31 Shinnecock Road in Hampton Bays.

This free event is open to students in grades five through 12 and is...

The Town of Brookhaven joined Southampton and Riverhead town governments in a lawsuit filed on Friday in Albany that claims New York State has handcuffed local towns’ ability to choose where dispensaries are placed and illegally limited their “home rule” rights to oversight of basic commercial development requirements. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the lawsuit asks a state court to nullify the component of the state’s Cannabis Law that limits local governments to only very narrow power to regulate cannabis dispensaries as far as their hours of operation, parking and traffic flow arrangements and nuisances like noise or smell.

Southampton, Riverhead, and Brookhaven Towns say in their lawsuit that when their respective legislative bodies chose not to “opt out” of allowing retail cannabis sales — as all counties, towns and villages were given the chance to do prior to December 31, 2021 — they did so on the basis of assurances from state officials that they would be allowed to determine where within their boundaries the shops would be allowed.

But the suing towns say that in September 2023, months or years after the three towns had adopted their own new regulations that allowed dispensaries to operate under a set of standard requirements similar to how other commercial businesses are regulated, the state adopted new guidelines that, if interpreted literally, greatly limit the towns’ authority to constrain cannabis stores.

Since that time, the state Office of Cannabis Management has issued several “advisory opinions” regarding regulations adopted by the towns, saying that the towns’ respective cannabis codes were “unreasonable and impracticable” and had limited cannabis business in ways it did not have the authority to under the superseding state law.

While the advisory opinions issued by the Cannabis Control Board do not carry actual legal authority, they have been instrumental in at least three court rulings in the last year that struck down local constraints in Southampton and Riverhead.

“I think I can speak for all of the towns involved in that we are forced to take this action to protect the towns’ Home Rule authority and our ability to control the regulation of land use within our respective towns,” Southampton Town Attorney James Burke said on Friday.

Critics from within the cannabis industry have said that the state’s claim to stringent limits on local authority will discourage other towns from opting into allowing cannabis sales in the future, and will further hamstring the already slow growth of the industry on Long Island.

There are more than 580 state-licensed dispensaries open statewide, but fewer than a dozen on Long Island — not counting the 10 on the Shinnecock Nation territory in Southampton, which are not state regulated.

***

Icy conditions and blowing snow continued to make travel difficult Sunday morning, after a Saturday night that saw dozens of vehicles disabled across town due to drifting snow, Riverhead Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski said. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that snow accumulations since Saturday morning were in the 2-to-4-inch range, but sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph caused drifts of 7 to 10 feet in some areas, Zaleski said yesterday. Reeves Avenue and the eastern portion of Peconic Bay Boulevard had the worst drifting, and there was significant drifting on Sound Avenue as well, he said.

Riverhead Town Police Chief Ed Frost said, “Several roadways needed to be shut down due to wind-driven snow drifts, which can cover a roadway very quickly.” The blowing snow caused “very tough conditions,” he said.

“This one was a crippling storm,” Zaleski said. “The winds killed us.”

“There were lots of vehicles on the roads, lots of vehicles getting stuck all throughout the night,” Zaleski said. That hampered highway department operations as

A Long Island man is among a group of plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit this week challenging the Trump administration’s recent ban on issuing visas to people from 75 countries.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan on Monday by a group that includes American citizens, immigration nonprofits and legal organizations, accuses the administration of seeking to "eviscerate decades of settled immigration law."

The government last month suspended the approval of visas from 75 countries, most of them non-European and with large non-white populations.

Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that one plaintiff, Cesar Andred Aguirre, of Shirley, Long Island is a U.S. citizen and a warehouse supervisor who pays taxes, according to the lawsuit. His wife and 2-year-old daughter are now stuck in Guatemala, one of the 75 countries, after she was told she could not receive a visa.

The State Department said a "pause" was necessary to prevent immigrants from coming here to become "public charges" collecting welfare and other benefits.

In response to the lawsuit, Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the State Department, said in a statement that a visa was a privilege and not a right, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated immigrants should be financially "self-sufficient."

"Such a requirement prevents billions in waste, fraud, and abuse and protects public benefits for Americans," Pigott said. "The Department is pausing issuance to evaluate and enhance screening and vetting procedures — but we will never stop fighting for American citizens first."

Most people applying for immigrant visas are not eligible for cash welfare for years, the lawsuit states.

Anna Gallagher, executive director of CLINIC, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit, said in a statement that "this administration is trying to shut down lawful immigration from nearly half the countries in the world without legal authority or justification.”

Aguirre's wife, Dania Mariela Escobar Carranza, lived in Shirley with Aguirre and their two children, ages 7 and 2. In January, the family traveled to Escobar Carranza’s native Guatemala for her scheduled consular interview, the lawsuit states. Her visa had already been approved and the fees paid.

She went to the U.S. consulate on Jan. 20 and handed in her documents but was told her interview was actually the next day. When she came back, she was told she could not receive her visa because of the pause, which had gone into effect the same day, the lawsuit states.

***

New York Democrats are gathering today for their state convention with the momentum on their side and three established leaders seeking reelection and party endorsement: Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, political observers told Newsday.

Whether they can sustain the effort and avoid self-destruction remains to be seen.

"The only thing, barring something unimaginable, that can reverse this momentum is that there is an open civil war between progressives and moderates," said Larry Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have recently declined over issues including the economy and his immigration policy, which has helped the proverbial winds at Democrats' backs "blow harder" than they might normally, according to Levy. Democrats also picked up a state Senate seat in a major upset in Texas last week, further encouraging the party.

Over 400 delegates from around the state are attending today’s one-day convention in Syracuse. Democrats in New York have a more than 2 to 1 enrollment advantage, but party leaders are gearing up for a tough election cycle, State Democratic Committee chairman Jay Jacobs told Newsday. Few surprises are expected, with Hochul anticipated to...

One-quarter of students in the Greenport school district stayed out of school yesterday as reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests swept through the community, creating fear, chaos and anger, according to officials and advocates.

Three longtime area residents with no criminal records reportedly since their arrival in the U.S. were arrested by federal agents as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, Latino community leaders said. They identified them as Alexandro Rivera Magaña, Martir Zambrano Diaz and Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio.

Bart Jones and Randee Daddona report in NEWSDAY that the ICE enforcement action, one of the most visible on the East End in months, stirred panic and frustration across Greenport Village as advocates called it a troubling escalation after weeks of anti-ICE demonstrations across Suffolk County.

Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan confirmed ICE was in Greenport on Wednesday but said he had not received information from the agency about arrests. Greenport Superintendent of Schools Beth Doyle said many families kept their children home, most likely out of fear of the agents’ presence. The district decided to keep all students on campus throughout the day and not allow seventh through 12th graders to leave for lunch as they typically can, she said.

Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi denounced the raids. "It's a tragedy to see parents being separated from children, and then doubly troubling to see all the fear with local students and families as federal agents were swarming the village this morning," he said.

Residents described early morning scenes of chaos as agents barreled down village streets in pursuit of migrants. Some residents came out blowing whistles, filming the agents and telling them to get out of the community.

***

Some bus stops in Nassau and Suffolk counties remain buried in snow and inaccessible to riders nearly two weeks after a major storm hit Long Island.

Nicholas Spangler reports in NEWSDAY that Long Island’s bus passengers are far outnumbered by its rail passengers, who make the Long Island Rail Road the busiest commuter railroad on the continent, but they still total in the tens of thousands each weekday.

Some of them now face streetside shelters that are filled with snow or offer limited or no access to the street because of snow or ice…including several bus stops here on the east end where riders have been seen standing dangerously in the road while awaiting the S-92 Greenport to East Hampton bus. Meteorologists say temperatures warm enough to melt the snow and ice won't come until next Wednesday at the earliest.

Suffolk County spokesperson Michael Martino said for 2,224 bus stops, "crews continue to clear snow from bus stops across the county. If there is a location that needs to be addressed, residents are asked to call the county’s 311 line to report the issue."

But responsibility is complicated for the 302 stops with shelters. Of those, 136 are owned by Suffolk County, 95 by advertisers contracted by the towns where they are located, 19 by the New York State Department of Transportation and 51 by private companies. They, not the county, are responsible for clearing the snow from their shelters, Martino said.

***

The Town of Southampton Youth Bureau is offering teens a chance to gain valuable skills and confidence through The Babysitters Club, a free program designed to help participants become responsible, capable, and professional babysitters.

Running on Thursdays from February 26 through April 2, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hampton Bays Community Center, the program is open to youth ages 14 to 18. Space is limited to 20 participants, so early registration is encouraged.

Throughout the six-week program, teens will learn essential child safety practices, explore the stages of child...

The Town of East Hampton plans to hike landing fees at its airport in Wainscott by 15% to generate revenue to repair and replace aging infrastructure at the facility. Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that the town also wants to hike fuel fees at the airport, which are currently 30 cents per gallon, by 2 cents.

The public airport serves a mix of private pilots, charter flights, commercial businesses and seasonal visitors.

The town is increasing fees at a “sweet spot” that lets it pay off the roughly $4.6 million it seeks to borrow for capital improvements, East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said during a work session yesterday. The increases in landing and fuel fees are expected to generate more than $350,000 in additional yearly revenue.

“We're not building VIP rooms or expanding any type of amenity at the airport. Everything that's on this list is critical for airport safety, and I don't think those are negotiable,” Councilwoman Cate Rogers said.

Board members said they agreed to the fee increases and plan to vote on them in March — giving time for aviation industry representatives to weigh in. The rate hikes would take effect on May 1, when flights pick up due to the influx of seasonal visitors.

This year’s big-ticket item is the resurfacing of one of two runways, which is estimated to cost $2.7 million, airport director Jim Brundige told board members. While the town has repaired cracks in the runway over the years, it now “needs to be completely milled out and repaved,” he said.

The town has not raised landing fees since 2016. Fuel prices were last hiked in 2014.

East Hampton-based aviation businesses, many of which have leases at the airport, are exempt from landing fees, but not from the fuel charge, said Katie van Heuven, outside counsel for the town. Last year, 3,033 of the 12,674 landings at the airport were exempt from the fees, according to town data.

East Hampton Town officials said they will revisit the airport’s fees in 2027 and possibly increase them again to finance future projects. The town wants to ensure the airport remains self-sustaining and is not financed by tax revenue, Burke-Gonzalez said. The airport relies on the fees to operate.

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The Riverhead Town Police Department closed out 2025 with a lower number of criminal incidents in December than in November, according to the department’s monthly activity reports presented to the Town Board by Police Chief Ed Frost at the board’s Jan. 22 work session. The reports also include year-end totals and a full-year breakdown of criminal offenses recorded in 2025. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Chief Frost presented two months of reports at the work session because the November report had not been delivered previously. He told board members the department logged 2,604 total incidents in December, including 106 criminal incidents — “a significant drop from even November,” he said.

He told the board that “simple assault was down” and that shoplifting was down as well, saying the department recorded 24 shoplifting incidents during the month.

Board members praised the trend. Supervisor Jerry Halpin said it was notable to see shoplifting going down even as the Route 58 retail corridor continues to add businesses.

Frost attributed at least part of the month-to-month results to both policing strategy and store policy. He said some stores have internal thresholds and “do not call us if it’s under a certain amount of money,” even though, he said, the department will respond. The chief also described a visible holiday-season deployment in shopping areas: in the weeks before Christmas, he said, the department assigned extra patrol cars to shopping plaza parking lots. Police coordinated with loss control personnel at various stores that wanted to participate. The stores had extra loss control people on site on a...