East End worker arrested by ICE freed after 23-day detention ordeal: ‘conditions were really bad’

A longtime East End employee arrested by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers while on his way to work has been freed after nearly a month in federal detention, the Riverhead News-Review has learned.

Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio, a truck driver and construction worker for Marcello Masonry on Shelter Island, was detained by ICE at about 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 4 in Greenport as he was waiting in line for the North Ferry.

Mr. Ardon Osorio, who worked for the company for more than 20 years, spent a grueling 23 days in custody before being released, he told the News-Review’s sister paper the Shelter Island Reporter on Saturday.

Mr. Ardon Orsorio — who spoke mostly in Spanish and was interpreted into English by his friend and Marcello co-worker Daniel Palencia — said he was taken to a detention center in New Jersey for three days and then transferred to a holding facility at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan.

“The conditions were really bad,” he said.

He was chained by the wrists and ankles and placed in a room that was extremely overcrowded.

Bobby Marcello, owner of Marcello Masonry, had hired an attorney to plead the case for Mr. Ardon Osorio’s release.

Since returning to Greenport, he is working again at Marcello Masonry.

Mr. Ardon Osorio, who welcomed a baby girl shortly before his arrest, didn’t speak of his present immigration status.

“It’s being worked out,” he said.

Less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE since January 2025, CBS News reported, had “charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document.”

The day after the arrest, Mr. Marcello described Mr. Ardon Osorio as a person of outstanding character who had been an exemplary employee.

“He’s a stand-up guy in every respect,” he said. “Works hard all the time. When he can’t get a sitter for his kids, they stay with my kids. He’s around my house a lot.”

Mr. Palencia, who lives in Southold, had his own struggles with the immigration system. He came to the United States in 2016 with his mother when he was 11. Crossing the Mexico-U.S. border into El Paso, Texas, he and his mother turned themselves into immigration authorities and sought legal status. He was detained for three months in deplorable conditions. He spoke of “cold rooms” where temperatures went desert cold at night. “They took our sweaters away from us.”

In addition, he was placed in rooms — “We called them cages” — that would be suitable for four or five people but at times held 40 individuals. “We were sleeping on top of each other,” he said.

The Texas government then sent Mr. Palencia and his mother to New York where, he said, they were detained at JFK Airport. Eventually they hired a lawyer and received asylum status. The whole ordeal took nearly three months. 

He went to Southold schools, where his grandparents lived, and has worked for Marcello Masonry for two years.

Reflecting on his own experience, and that of Mr. Ardon Orsorio, he said, “There are bad people out there. But you can’t arrest everybody for the way they look or if they speak Spanish. You can’t arrest hard-working people who are trying to support their families.”