City Council leaders, lawmakers demand release after ICE detains council staffer

Speaker Menon announced that federal immigration officials detained a New York City Council staffer after the staffer attended a routine court appearance in Bethpage, Long Island, and said the employee was later transferred to a detention facility on Varick Street.

The council leader said the staffer, who works as a data analyst in central staff and has been employed about a year, called the council after being detained and was given one call. "He was given, I wanna be clear, 1 call, and he called the city council for help," Menon said, and council offices have been trying to reach the staffer’s immigration attorney and family.

Why it matters: Elected leaders at the event framed the case as a transparency and accountability failure by federal authorities and said it highlights a broader shift in enforcement tactics. Rep. Dan Goldman, who attended the news event, said he has introduced legislation to bar ICE from making arrests at courts or check-ins and urged immediate action to stop the staffer’s deportation.

Details and claims

Menon said he spoke with the deputy field office director of the Department of Homeland Security, which, he said, confirmed the staffer had gone to a routine court appointment and was nevertheless detained. Menon said the staffer’s legal authorization to live and work in the United States runs through October 2026.

Menon described communication problems with facilities handling the detainee, saying a phone number for the Bethpage facility was disconnected. "There is no public information about how to reach someone that is being detained at the Bethpage facility," he said, calling the lack of contact "wholly and completely unacceptable."

At the press conference, Rep. Dan Goldman said the enforcement pattern worries him because it targets people who follow required procedures. "I have introduced a bill to prohibit ICE from making arrests in court or at check ins because those are the people doing it the right way," Goldman said, and he described the detention as part of an "immigration dragnet" that he said risks depriving people of due process.

Murad Awadam, identified in the transcript as president of the New York Immigration Coalition, called the detention "outrageous" and demanded the Department of Homeland Security release the staffer. Awadam also cited other alleged incidents of aggressive enforcement and named a person he said had been seriously harmed, saying a vigil for that person was ongoing during the news event. Those allegations were presented as claims by Awadam at the press conference and were not independently confirmed during the event.

Council member Alexa Aviles, speaking from a vigil, said the case shows why the city must defend immigrant communities, and Council member Harvey Epstein described the practical dilemma the enforcement pattern creates for constituents required to attend appointments: "If you don't show up, you're in trouble. But if you show up, you're in trouble," Epstein said.

Officials said the Council has briefed the mayor’s office and is pursuing all available legal options while trying to locate the staffer’s attorney and next of kin. Menon said the Council will continue to press for the staffer’s release and to push for clearer lines of accountability and communication from federal immigration authorities.

Allegations and status

Speakers repeatedly characterized the detention as unjustified given the staffer’s reported work authorization. The staffer’s detention and the other allegations mentioned at the event remain unresolved in the record of the press conference; no formal federal response or additional documentation was provided at that time.

What’s next

Council leaders said they are exploring legal avenues and will work with the mayor’s office to seek the staffer’s release. Rep. Goldman said he will continue legislative work to prevent arrests at courts and check-ins and urged federal officials to reverse the detention.

Ending

The Council said it will continue to monitor the situation closely and to provide support to the staffer and their family while pursuing legal and legislative options.