A New York City Council employee was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Monday as he attended a routine immigration appointment at a court on Long Island, federal and local officials said.
ICE in an emailed statement identified the man as Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez.
He works as a data analyst for the council, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said at a news conference. He does not have a criminal record and is authorized to work in the United States until October, she said. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-New York), speaking at the same news conference, said the man was of Venezuelan descent.
“A law-abiding immigrant with work authorization who is allowed to be here does the right thing and goes to their required check-in at an ICE facility,” Goldman said, “and instead of getting rewarded for doing the right thing … he is arrested and detained, and likely on a path to removal.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, disputed those remarks in an emailed statement sent a few hours after the news conference. She said the Venezuelan had a previous arrest for assault. The Washington Post could not immediately confirm whether he was charged with or found guilty of assault. He also had no work authorization, McLaughlin added.
The man “entered the United States on a B2 tourist visa in 2017 that required him to depart the U.S. by October 22, 2017,” McLaughlin said.
Menin said earlier that she had spoken with a DHS official who confirmed that the man was attending a routine court appointment but “was nevertheless detained.”
“They provided no other basis for his detainment,” Menin said.
She expressed frustration that there was no way to reach the individual, who was initially detained at a facility in Bethpage, near the court, before being moved to another facility on Varick Street in Manhattan.
Homeland security officials “indicated that they are likely to move this individual” but declined to “elaborate on additional information,” she said.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was outraged by the incident. “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 post on social media.
The arrest adds to growing national tension over immigration law enforcement operations that have quickly mushroomed in recent days after an ICE officer fatally shot a Minnesota woman last week. President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem described the officer’s actions as having been carried out in self-defense — claims that have been met with deep skepticism and challenged by video footage.
Minnesota sued federal immigration authorities on Monday, saying the Trump administration’s “unprecedented surge” of immigration agents is politically motivated and violates the U.S. Constitution.
Menin described the council employee’s detainment as “government overreach.”
Aggressive actions by ICE “across the nation” are threatening “the freedom and safety of every American,” she said.
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