A New York City Council employee was taken into custody by federal immigration authorities on Monday while attending what officials described as a routine immigration court appointment in Nassau County, Council Speaker Julie Menin said.
Menin said the man had legal authorization to live and work in the United States through October 2026. He is a central staff member who has worked as a data analyst for the Council for about a year. After being detained, he contacted the Council's human resources department. U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman said the employee is of Venezuelan descent. Menin declined to share more details in order to protect his identity.
"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.
Officials said the man was moved Monday evening to the detention center on Varick Street in Manhattan. Menin said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicated he could be transferred again but offered no further information.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin offered a different account. She said the man did not have work authorization in the United States and had entered the country in 2017 on a tourist visa that required him to leave by Oct. 22 of that year. "Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States," McLaughlin said. "If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you."
Menin said it was the first time a Council staffer had been detained by immigration officials. She said the employee had done "everything right" and had earlier signed an attestation saying he had never been arrested. She added that DHS gave no justification for the detention beyond the fact that he showed up for his court appointment. "As speaker of the City Council, I cannot even call this ICE detention center to collect information or demand his release," she said. "That is not how government is supposed to work."
The case drew quick criticism from city and federal officials. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a post on X that he was "outraged" and called for the man's immediate release. "This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values," he said. Goldman described the detention as part of a wider crackdown on immigrants, including those with legal status. "Secret masked police are killing Americans, are yanking anyone they can find out of cars, out of homes, out of courtrooms," he said.
Menin called the episode emblematic of a broader pattern under the Trump administration. "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," she said.
The detention came days after Renee Good, a Minneapolis woman, was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer, an incident that has prompted lawsuits, protests and renewed scrutiny of ICE enforcement across the country.
Lawmakers in New York and New Jersey are now weighing legislation to limit how local agencies deal with federal immigration authorities. In Albany, supporters of the long-stalled New York for All Act say a renewed push is underway to bar local police from cooperating with ICE in most cases. New Jersey legislators have been advancing a similar package of bills.
