Mamdani Furious After ICE Arrests Illegal Alien City Council Staffer
A New York City Council employee was taken into federal custody Monday during a routine immigration check-in on Long Island, sparking outrage from Democratic city officials and exposing fresh tensions between local leaders and federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to city officials, the council staffer—a data analyst—was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Bethpage, Nassau County, while attending what Council Speaker Julie Menin described as a scheduled immigration hearing. Menin claimed the employee had authorization to live and work in the United States through October 2026, a characterization federal authorities dispute.
“[He] had legal authorization to remain in the country until October of this year,” Menin said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to secure his immediate release and demand swift and transparent action by the federal government.”
The New York City Council announced the detention during an emergency press conference Monday evening. Officials said the employee contacted the council’s human resources department shortly after being taken into custody and was initially given no explanation beyond his presence at the appointment.
After his detention, the individual was transferred to a federal immigration facility in Manhattan. City officials declined to release his name, citing privacy concerns, but the Associated Press and other outlets identified him as Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, a Venezuelan national and asylum seeker.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not publicly released full details regarding his immigration status. However, according to an Associated Press review of court filings and government statements, federal officials say Bohorquez overstayed a tourist visa after entering the U.S. in 2017 and had a prior arrest for assault. Authorities stated he “had no legal right to be in the United States.”
City leaders sharply contest that account, insisting the employee passed a background check and complied with immigration requirements while working for the council.
The arrest triggered fierce backlash from Democratic officials in New York City, including newly inaugurated Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who characterized the detention as politically motivated and illegitimate.
“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 wrote on X. “This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values,” Mamdani continued, adding that he would “continue to monitor the situation.”
Other council members echoed Mamdani’s claims, accusing the federal government of overreach. A habeas corpus petition seeking the employee’s release is currently pending in federal court, with a hearing scheduled later this week, according to court records reviewed by news outlets.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of ICE operations nationwide following the recent death of immigration activist Renee Good in Minneapolis. Good was shot and killed after allegedly striking an ICE agent with her SUV. According to authorities and video evidence circulating on social media, Good and her spouse, Rebecca Good, had been following ICE agents throughout the day, blocking vehicles and confronting officers prior to the shooting.
Federal officials have since released body camera and cellphone footage showing the moments leading up to the incident. The video, recorded from an ICE agent’s perspective, shows Good’s Honda Pilot stopped in the middle of a residential street, appearing to block traffic.
In the footage, Good is heard telling an agent, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad,” as officers approach the vehicle. Simultaneously, body camera video shows Rebecca Good filming the encounter on her cellphone.
Both women appear to ignore repeated commands from federal agents to move the vehicle and leave the area. Rebecca Good is heard taunting officers, demanding they show their faces and saying, “You want to come at us? You want to come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy.”
As immigration enforcement intensifies under the Trump administration’s renewed focus on border security and rule of law, the New York case highlights the widening divide between federal authorities and sanctuary-style local governments that continue to resist immigration enforcement—even when criminal records and visa overstays are involved.