NEW YORK (WABC) — New York lawmakers, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, reacted Monday night after a City Council employee was detained by federal immigration officials on Long Island.
Mayor Mamdani said he’s “outraged” by the employee’s detainment, and called it “an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values.” He said he’s calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation.
The employee was detained by ICE New York City officials during an appointment in Bethpage in Nassau County earlier Monday, according to New York CIty Council Speaker Julie Menin.
The City Council learned of his detainment Monday afternoon, when the employee used his one phone call to contact the council’s human resources department for help and said he had been detained, according to Menin.
“DHS confirmed that this employee had gone in for a routine court appointment and was nevertheless detained. They provided no other basis for his detainment,” Menin said during a press briefing on Monday. “On the contrary, he was a City Council employee who is doing everything right. He went to the court when he was asked.”
Menin said the City Council is demanding the return of the employee, whom she did not identify, citing privacy concerns. He is a “central staff member working as a data analyst for approximately a year,” she said.
The speaker said the employee has legal authorization to remain in the country until October.
Democratic New York Congressman Dan Goldman said the employee is of Venezuelan descent and is a “law-abiding immigrant with work authorization.”
“I want to be very clear: There is no indication that there’s anything about this individual other than his immigration status that caused him to be arrested,” he said during Monday’s press briefing.
However, the Department of Homeland Security responded in statement, saying the employee had no work authorization, is a “a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela and an employee of New York’s City Council,” and that his criminal history includes an arrest for assault.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said that the employee “entered the United States on a B2 tourist visa in 2017 that required him to depart the U.S by October 22, 2017,” and “had no legal right to be in the United States.”
The employee has been transferred to a detention center on Varick Street in Manhattan, according to Menin. She said the City Council has been unable to reach his family members.
“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,” Menin said in a statement. “Across the nation, we have seen aggressive escalations by ICE that raise serious concerns on the use of excessive force and a lack of accountability. As New Yorkers, we will stand up for the rights and dignity of every neighbor.”
Goldman said his office has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We will continue to fight this,” he said. “We will continue to push for not only this person’s release, which is so obviously necessary, but for this immigration dragnet to stop.”
Governor Kathy Hochul said, “This is exactly what happens when immigration enforcement is weaponized.”
“Detaining people during routine court appearances doesn’t make us safer. It erodes trust, spreads fear, and violates basic principles of fairness,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to stand up for the rights of New Yorkers.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James also reacted Monday night, saying “We will not stand for attacks on our city, its public servants, and its residents.”
