A U.S. citizen who was held in custody for more than three years under the mistaken belief he was deportable has lost his false imprisonment claim against immigration officials as untimely, a divided federal appeals court panel ruled.

The decision, which came on a 2-1 vote by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, was handed down with language in the majority opinion calling the detention by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials “arresting and disturbing.”