U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested City Council employee Rafael Bohorquez on Jan. 12 during a routine immigration appointment in Long Island’s Nassau County.
Bohorquez, a data analyst for the New York City Council, was detained following claims by the Department of Homeland Security that he was in the U.S. illegally, had a prior criminal record of assault and was not authorized to work in the country.
On the evening of his arrest, Bohorquez was transferred to an ICE detention facility on Varick Street in Manhattan, with DHS officials suggesting that he could be transferred to another facility.
As of Jan. 28, Bohorquez has been in ICE custody for more than two weeks.
He was expected to appear at a hearing on Jan. 16, but so far there have been no new reports about the status of his case.
According to the DHS, Bohorquez entered the U.S. in 2017 on a tourist visa that required him to leave by Oct. 22 of that year, and he has remained in the country illegally since then.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputed those claims, saying that he had legal authorization to live and work in the US through October 2026.
Bohorquez, who is of Venezuelan descent, had been employed for about one year and had gone through the standard vetting process required for his position.
After his arrest, Bohorquez was allowed one phone call, during which he contacted the City Council’s human resources department.
According to Menin, he had previously signed documentation at the time of his employment that stated he had never been arrested, a claim that contradicts the DHS’s allegations.
In addition to Menin, the case has prompted outrage among other New York officials.
Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed the situation in a post on the social platform X.
“Detaining people during routine court appearances doesn’t make us safer. It erodes trust, spreads fear and violates basic principles of fairness,” she said.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani also posted on X, expressing outrage and calling for Bohorquez’s immediate release. He wrote that the arrest was “an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values.”
U.S. Rep. Daniel Goldman of New York’s 10th Congressional District echoed those concerns at an emergency press conference alongside Menin, New York Immigration Coalition President Murad Awawdeh and several City Council Members.
“This is the immigration dragnet that we are living in where secret masked police are killing Americans, are yanking anyone they can find out of cars, out of homes, out of courtrooms,” Goldman said.
Additionally, while Menin said that they were “doing everything in [their] power to secure his immediate release,” Goldman stated that Bohorquez was “likely on a path to removal unless it can be stopped.”
Bohorquez’s detainment comes amid heightened scrutiny of immigration enforcement practices nationwide.
Just days earlier, Renée Good, a 37-year-old woman, was shot and killed by ICE agents on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis during a vehicle stop. Her killing has sparked protests nationwide as well as multiple investigations.
Bohorquez’s detainment also highlights ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to ramp up immigration reform in the United States, a plan Trump promised to “execute” on his first day in office in January 2025.
Bohorquez continues to remain in ICE custody, leaving city officials and many New Yorkers wondering what his status and the status of many others will be as the current administration continues.
