A Venezuelan employee of the New York City Council whose detention by federal immigration officials drew outrage from city leaders has been freed after five months in custody. His fate, however, remained in limbo as the federal government made a last-minute effort to challenge his ability to live in the United States.
Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez was granted asylum in immigration court on May 27 and freed on a $5,000 bond on June 19 after his lawyers won a separate case in federal court that challenged the legality of his detention. He is back living in New York City and has returned to his job, where City Council Speaker Julie Menin said he would be celebrated next week.
“I’m still sad because there are still people in there,” Mr. Rubio Bohorquez said as he cried softly during a telephone interview on Friday.
The federal government had until Friday night to challenge an immigration judge’s decision to grant him asylum, and Mr. Rubio Bohorquez’s lawyers learned of the appeal on Friday night.
The detention in January of Mr. Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst employed by the city, had been denounced by Ms. Menin, who disputed an assertion by the Department of Homeland Security that Mr. Rubio Bohorquez did not have authorization to work.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security described Mr. Rubio as a “criminal illegal alien” and said that his criminal history included an “arrest for assault,” though they did not make it clear if he had been charged or convicted. The officials said that he had overstayed a visa in 2017, that he was not authorized to work in the United States and that the temporary legal status he had been granted to remain in the country had been terminated.
“He was ordered released by an Obama-appointed, activist judge,” the officials said. “We will do everything in our power to fight for the removal of this criminal illegal alien.”
Mr. Rubio Bohorquez was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during a routine immigration appointment on Long Island in January. At the time, Ms. Menin and ICE officials offered conflicting information about his immigration status and criminal history.
Court records show that Mr. Rubio Bohorquez’s detention had hinged largely on a missing signature in his earlier application for asylum and on his arrest in 2023 on charges of assault and harassment; those charges were later dismissed. Ms. Menin said that the arrest involved a roommate who had assaulted Mr. Rubio Bohorquez, who then defended himself. The New York Times did not find evidence of a criminal record for Mr. Rubio Bohorquez.
An immigration judge had denied him bond on Feb. 2. After Mr. Rubio Bohorquez obtained a new legal team, his case was reopened. His lawyers said that he had sought asylum because he had been a government employee in Venezuela and refused to cooperate with the regime and was persecuted for that reason.
Mr. Rubio Bohorquez and his legal team said that he was fortunate to have the help of powerful political allies.
“Thankfully, the Council had the foresight to create the legal infrastructure that made his defense possible,” said Karla Ostolaza, the managing director of the immigration practice at the Bronx Defenders, a nonprofit that provided legal representation for Mr. Rubio Bohorquez. “But hundreds of Rafaels are sitting in detention now for similar reasons.”
Ms. Menin’s office said that Mr. Rubio Bohorquez had work authorization because he had been granted Temporary Protected Status, known as T.P.S. — a humanitarian program that former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. extended to Venezuelans. President Trump has since revoked that status for Venezuelans.
Ms. Menin said that Mr. Rubio Bohorquez had legal authorization to work and remain in the United States until October 2026, despite the revocation.
The Department of Homeland Security said he had entered the United States on a tourist visa in April 2017 that required him to leave by October 2017. Court records show that Mr. Rubio Bohorquez had been granted temporary legal status and work authorization until both were terminated on Nov. 20, 2025.
Mr. Rubio Bohorquez said that he was taken to detention facilities in Orange County, N.Y., Brooklyn and Newark. He said that he was deprived of medication for high blood pressure and that he was placed in isolation for nearly two weeks. He was often served spoiled milk, he said.
“They treat people like garbage,” Mr. Rubio Bohorquez said.
His arrest in January drew immediate criticism of the federal government from Ms. Menin, who assembled a news conference the same night.
“I’m just so happy that he is finally out after being detained wrongfully for 158 days,” Ms. Menin said in a phone interview. “That’s 158 days of his life that he cannot get back.”
Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Sean Piccoli contributed reporting. Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
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