A significant immigration controversy has erupted in New York City following the detention of Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, a City Council data analyst and Venezuelan asylum-seeker, during what was described as a routine immigration check-in. The arrest occurred Monday at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Bethpage, Long Island, triggering widespread condemnation from city officials and protests outside Manhattan’s federal building.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement maintains that Bohorquez had overstayed his 2017 B2 tourist visa and cited a prior assault arrest as justification for detention, stating he had ‘no legal right to be in the United States.’ However, City Council Speaker Julie Menin vehemently disputes these claims, asserting that the employee had proper work authorization until October and had cleared standard background checks that revealed no criminal record.
The case has drawn responses from the highest levels of New York government, with Governor Kathy Hochul questioning the detention’s proportionality during her state of the state address: ‘Is this person really one of the baddest of the bad? Is this person really a threat?’
Legal representatives from the New York Legal Assistance Group have filed a habeas corpus petition arguing unlawful detention, with a hearing scheduled for Friday. The organization’s CEO Lisa Rivera emphasized that Bohorquez ‘did everything right by appearing at a scheduled interview’ yet was detained regardless.
The incident occurs against the backdrop of Venezuela’s ongoing political and economic crisis, which has prompted nearly 8 million citizens to flee since 2014. The case also highlights ongoing tensions between federal immigration enforcement and local governments, particularly regarding work authorization verification systems that don’t automatically update employers about status changes.