Overview
- The Council employee, a Venezuelan data analyst, was taken into custody during a routine immigration appointment in Bethpage and transferred to the federal detention facility on Varick Street in Manhattan.
- City officials say he has legal authorization to live and work in the U.S. through October 2026, and that he used his one phone call to alert the Council’s human resources office.
- Speaker Julie Menin says DHS confirmed the detention occurred at a routine check-in but gave no rationale; she also described inability to reach the Bethpage facility and called the episode unprecedented for a Council staffer.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Attorney General Letitia James, Governor Kathy Hochul and Rep. Dan Goldman demanded the worker’s immediate release, while the New York Legal Assistance Group prepared an emergency habeas petition.
- In a new statement, DHS said the employee lacks work authorization and has a prior assault arrest, a characterization the Council disputes as officials continue pressing for his release.