Representative Dan Goldman, flanked by Council Speaker Julie Menin, speaks at the City Hall after a City Council employee was detained by ICE during a routine immigration appointment.
Photo: Vincent Alban/The New York Times/Redux
A City Council employee was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during a scheduled check-in on Long Island on Monday, prompting widespread criticism from city and state leaders.
At a press conference at City Hall on Monday evening, City Council Speaker Julie Menin told reporters that the employee went in for a “routine court appointment” in Bethpage that ended with the man’s arrest by federal immigration officials. Menin said the employee was given one phone call, which he used to contact the Council’s human-resources department, informing them of his arrest. Though he was initially detained in Bethpage, he has since been moved to the detention center on Varick Street in Manhattan.
“We’re doing everything in our power to secure his immediate release,” she said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the staffer’s arrest and called for his release from federal custody. “I am outraged to hear a New York City Council employee was detained in Nassau County by federal immigration officials at a routine immigration appointment. This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values. I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation,” he said in a statement. Governor Kathy Hochul also denounced the employee’s arrest, saying it’s an example of what happens when “immigration enforcement is weaponized.”
According to Menin, the employee has worked as a data analyst for the City Council for about a year. She did not reveal his identity, but she confirmed that he is Venezuelan, that he is in the country on a valid work visa with legal authorization to work until October 2026, and that he has no known criminal history. The council later clarified to the New York Times that he had received temporary protected status from the federal government, a designation President Donald Trump has ended for Venezuelans. The Speaker said the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that he had been detained but provided no additional information for his arrest.
But Homeland Security spokesman Tricia McLaughlin later offered conflicting information in a statement. She confirmed that the agency had detained a man she named as Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, but alleged that he had no work authorization and a past arrest for assault. McLaughlin said that he entered the country on a B2 tourist visa in 2017 that had since expired. “He had no legal right to be in the United States,” she said.
Menin was joined at the New York press conference by Representative Dan Goldman, who said the federal government is intentionally targeting immigrants who are trying to work within the system rather than those who pose a true threat. “They are going after our neighbors. They are going after our community members. They are going after the easiest prey they can find and that is the people who are going to court and are going to their check-ins,” he said.
The arrest comes amid mounting tensions between federal immigration officials and the increasing number of cities where they’re being deployed. ICE agents have made something of a base at 26 Federal Plaza, conducting mass arrests of immigrants who arrive at the building for required court appointments. And Last Wednesday, an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, an incident that has sparked nationwide protests.
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