DHS detained a city council employee, a Venezuelan working as a data analyst, on Monday as the person attended an immigration court hearing on Long Island.
Mamdani, who is ardently opposed to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, said he was “outraged” to hear of the employee’s detainment.
“This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values,” he said. “I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation.”
Goldman, whose office is in the same building as an immigration court and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, expressed similar displeasure during a press conference.
“I want to be very clear: There is no indication that there’s anything about this individual other than his immigration status that caused him to be arrested,” Goldman said Monday.
The employee has been transferred to a detention center in Manhattan, according to New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin. She added that the employee was “doing everything right. He went to the court when he was asked.”
The DHS said the person has a criminal history that includes an assault arrest and was required to leave the country in 2017 after entering the same year on a B2 tourist visa.
“He had no legal right to be in the United States,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Under Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you.”
Menin disputed DHS’s claim. She said the employee had legal authorization to remain in the U.S. until October of this year.
Goldman said he will fight for the employee’s release. “We will continue to push for not only this person’s release, which is so obviously necessary, but for this immigration dragnet to stop.”
Other top state officials, such as Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and New York Attorney General Letitia James, also condemned ICE arresting the employee.
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“We will not stand for attacks on our city, its public servants, and its residents,” James said.
Hochul called the arrest “exactly what happens when immigration enforcement is weaponized.”
“Detaining people during routine court appearances doesn’t make us safer. It erodes trust, spreads fear, and violates basic principles of fairness,” she added.
