A Venezuelan citizen employed by the New York City Council has been detained by immigration officials, causing outrage among top New York City Democrats.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin said the staffer was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Monday afternoon when keeping an immigration appointment in Bethpage on Long Island, according to NBC.
He was then locked up in a federal facility on Varick Street in Manhattan.
Menen said the aide, identified as Rubio Bohorquez, had legal authorization to work in America through October.
Bohorquez worked for the city for about a year and has signed an attestation that he had never been arrested, Menen said, according to WNYW-TV.
Department of Homeland Security officials presented a very different picture.
Bohorquez, according to DHS, had overstayed his 2017 tourist visa, did not have work authorization and had an arrest for assault on his record.
Bohorquez, 53, entered the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa in 2017 that called for him to leave the country by Oct. 22, DHS said.
“On Jan. 12, ICE New York City arrested Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela and an employee of New York’s City Council. His criminal history includes an arrest for assault. He had no work authorization,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
Bohorquez “had no legal right to be in the United States,” she added.
“Under Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you.”
Menin said Bohorquez used his one phone call to as the council for assistance.
“Despite every indication that he was doing everything the right way, he still found himself a victim of egregious government overreach,” Menin said. “These escalations raise serious concerns about overreach, about the use of excessive force and about the lack of accountability.”
“We are doing everything we can to secure his immediate release, and we demand swift and transparent action by the federal government on this apparent overreach.”
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…
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) January 12, 2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared his anger on X.
“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,” Mamdani posted.
“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.”
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