A New York City Council staffer was detained by ICE officials when he showed up to a routine court check-in at a Long Island immigration center Monday, Big Apple officials said.
The employee, a Venezuelan national, is now in custody at a detention center in lower Manhattan – despite having a work visa that allows him to stay in the country until October 2026, Council Speaker Julie Menin said during a Monday evening press conference.
Menin, a Democrat, said the staffer was doing “everything right” when the court appointment “quickly went awry” in Bethpage, leading to the detainment.
“Despite every indication that he was doing everything the right way, he still found himself the victim of egregious government overreach,” Menin said.
The worker is a data analyst and has worked in city government for about a year, the speaker added.
Menin didn’t reveal more information about the detained staffer to protect his identity while calling ICE’s actions “unacceptable.”
“We will stand up for the right over every single neighbor,” she said.
An email to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not immediately returned.
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