NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A New York City Council staffer was arrested by ICE officers at a routine immigration hearing on Long Island on Monday, sparking outrage and plans for a rally in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Council members and staffers will join the planned protest at noon Tuesday outside an ICE field office on Varick Street, the Association of Legislative Employees union said.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin said the data analyst for the Council has worked in the central staff for about a year and had a work visa that was good until October. She said he is of Venezuelan descent and has the necessary paperwork to be in the U.S.
“After we learned of his detention, we immediately reached out to the ICE facility office at the Bethpage facility, but shockingly the phone number doesn’t even work,” Menin said.
She called it "the first time this has ever happened to a City Council employee, and it must be the only time." She said the feds had engaged in "egregious government overreach."
“We will continue to push for not only this person’s release, which is so obviously necessary, but for this immigration dragnet to stop,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, who spoke alongside Menin at City Hall.
While the City Council did not identify the employee, Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement he is Andres Rubio Bohorquez.
“His criminal history includes an arrest for assault. He had no work authorization,” McLaughlin said. “Rubio entered the United States on a B2 tourist visa in 2017 that required him to depart the U.S by October 22, 2017. He had no legal right to be in the United States.”
New York officials vowed to fight for his release, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying, “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.”
In another statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in part, “Detaining people during routine court appearances doesn’t make us safer. It erodes trust, spreads fear, and violates basic principles of fairness.”