Harlem activist will stay in ICE detention, but judge says releasing him would be ‘right thing to do’

Samantha Max

Published Apr 4, 2025

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Robert Panton, a community volunteer and activist in Harlem, who is fighting to stay in the country after being put into detention by federal immigration authorities on March 25.

Courtesy of Kristina Sumfleth

Samantha Max

Published Apr 4, 2025

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A noted Harlem community activist and immigrant who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a routine check-in in March will have to remain in detention while fighting his deportation, a federal judge ruled in a hearing Friday.

U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla said the government acted within its authority when it detained Robert Panton, 59, during a March 25 check-in. But Polk Failla, noting the “great strides” Panton made after serving a long prison term following a drug conviction, said that as a “human being” she wished the government would release Panton.

“Mr. Panton, I am thinking of you,” Polk Failla said.

The proceeding, for now, leaves uncertain the fate of a man who has lived in this country since childhood, and whose volunteer work has gained notice from community leaders and such notables as Democratic U.S. Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Jerry Nadler.

Panton was born in Jamaica and moved to Harlem as a lawful permanent resident when he was 4, according to court papers. He has no memories of his birthplace and no family there, he said in a sworn affidavit.

After a hand injury derailed his boxing career, Panton said, he got involved in the drug trade to make money — a decision he called “a mistake I will forever regret and try to make amends for.” He was arrested in 1991 and convicted at trial on a drug conspiracy charge.

Panton spent nearly three decades in prison before a judge reduced his sentence, citing his rehabilitation during his incarceration. But instead of going home in 2020, he went to ICE detention.

Panton said in the affidavit that officers picked him up from prison and started removal proceedings against him because of his drug conviction. He was released months later and has been navigating his immigration case ever since.

On March 25, ICE agents detained Panton again, this time during what was supposed to be a routine check-in. He was sent to Buffalo Service Processing Center, a detention facility in Batavia, New York. His attorneys filed a petition for his release the same day.

This week, the matter came before Polk Failla, who heard arguments from both sides during a virtual hearing, which Panton attended remotely. The judge said she didn’t think the government had done anything illegal.

“I believe that they have exercised discretion that they have and that they haven’t broken the law or the Constitution,” she said Friday.

Panton’s lawyers have argued that he should be released from detention while he challenges his removal proceedings. They’ve said in court papers that he’s trying to get a U-visa — which allows a crime victim to remain in the country — because he was shot in 1991.

Panton’s attorneys have also said that he’s in poor health and won’t be able to get the treatment that he needs in detention or in Jamaica.

ICE Assistant Field Office Director Alberto Morales said in court papers that immigration officials determined earlier this year that sufficient medical care was available in Jamaica. On March 25, he said, the government denied Panton’s request to delay his deportation and arrested him, with plans to “remove him as soon as practicable.”

During Friday’s hearing, Polk Failla said Panton “has made great strides toward rehabilitation.”

While incarcerated, Panton worked in the library, wrote screenplays, became religious and mentored youth in the family court system, according to court papers. Since his release from prison, he’s become a community activist and has continued to mentor young people, earning him support from local organizations and elected officials, including Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Jerry Nadler, who both urged former President Joe Biden to pardon Panton.

Polk Failla said Panton’s attorneys hadn’t convinced her that they’re likely enough to win his immigration case that she should order his release now. She also said there’s a public interest in following immigration laws.

Then the judge took a different tone.

“Let me stop being a judge for a moment and start as a human being,” Polk Failla said.

She said she hoped the government and Panton’s attorneys could work out some sort of arrangement so he could be released on bond while his case is pending. She said she would prefer for him to have access to better health care outside of detention.

Polk Failla couldn’t order it, she said, but “it’s the right thing to do.”

Then the judge asked both sides to file their next round of legal filings by the middle of the following week.

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public safety

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Race And Justice Unit

immigration

Samantha Max

Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.

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