A New York City Hall employee was detained during a “routine” immigration appointment in Long Island on Monday, according to city officials, who called the incident an “egregious government overreach.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he is “outraged” by the worker’s arrest.
“This is an attack on our democracy, our city and our values,” he said in a statement on X. “I call for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference at Grand Army Plaza in the Brooklyn borough of New York on January 2, 2026.
Jeenah Luna/Reuters
The employee was detained by federal immigration officials during an appointment in Bethpage, Nassau County, early Monday, according to NYC. Council President Julie Menin.
City Hall learned of his arrest Monday afternoon, when the employee used his only phone call to contact City Hall’s human resources department for help and said he had been detained, according to Menin.
“DHS confirmed that this employee had attended a routine court date and yet was detained. They did not provide any other basis for his detention,” Menin said during a press conference Monday. “On the contrary, he was a city council employee who is doing everything right. He went to court when they asked him to.”
Menin said the city is demanding the return of the employee, whom he did not identify, citing privacy concerns. He is a “core staff member working as a data analyst for about a year,” he said.
The spokesperson said the employee has legal authorization to remain in the country until October.
New York Democratic 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 was anything about this individual other than his immigration status that caused his arrest,” he said during Monday’s news conference.
An ICE officer badge is seen as federal agents patrol the hallways of the immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on June 10, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
According to Menin, the employee has been transferred to a detention center in Manhattan. He said the city council has not been able to contact his family members.
Goldman said his office has been in contact with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We will continue to fight this,” he said. “We will continue to press not only for the release of this person, which is obviously necessary, but also for this immigration network to cease.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James also called for the employee’s immediate release, saying in a statement on X: “We will not tolerate attacks against our city, its public servants and its residents.”
In response to the incident, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said: “This is exactly what happens when immigration enforcement is weaponized.”
“Detaining people during routine court appearances does not make us safer,” he said in a statement on X. “It erodes trust, spreads fear and violates basic principles of justice.”
