Published Sep. 22, 2026at2:11pm<\/p>\n
A Democratic staffer who has worked for several San Francisco elected officials was detained by federal immigration authorities Thursday in Las Vegas, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed.<\/p>\n
Ho-Yin Mo, a field representative for Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, was arrested during an enforcement operation at Harry Reid International Airport and remained in custody Tuesday. A DHS spokesperson said Mo entered the U.S. in 2020 \u201con a temporary basis but illegally overstayed his welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stefani on Tuesday called for Mo\u2019s immediate release and insisted he is a legal employee of her office. The incident has shocked San Francisco\u2019s political community, and friends have mounted an effort to support Mo\u2019s legal defense as he fights deportation to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy message today is simple: I am respectfully calling for Ho Yin Mo\u2019s release as soon as possible,\u201d Stefani told The Standard. \u201cHo Yin is a selfless public servant and a valued, legal employee of the California state Legislature serving our San Francisco and Bay Area communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has aggressively expanded the types of deportation cases pursued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including by targeting those who have legally obtained work and have pending asylum claims. DHS implied, in its statement, that Mo was targeted despite his status landing in a legal gray area.<\/p>\n
A DHS spokesperson said, \u201cWork authorization or a pending application do NOT confer legal status in the United States. DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country. Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mo was previously an anchor and reporter at KTSF, a Chinese-language TV station based in the Bay Area. He also worked as a field representative for former Mayor London Breed\u2019s 2024 reelection campaign.<\/p>\n
Stefani praised Mo\u2019s work on behalf of her office, saying he offers a unique form of outreach to Chinese American constituents who recognize him from his work as a TV reporter. Her Assembly district, on the west side of San Francisco, is home to one of the country\u2019s largest electorates of Chinese-speaking voters .<\/p>\n
Stefani added, \u201cAnd his work goes far beyond presence. Ho-Yin helps people access affordable healthcare coverage, childcare, and food support. Our whole community eagerly awaits Ho-Yin\u2019s return to his home and his job, where he is loved and adored.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published Sep. 22, 2026at2:11pm A Democratic staffer who has worked for several San Francisco elected officials was detained…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[14,13,101,103,102,104,106,105,36094],"class_list":["post-472361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-immigration","tag-politics","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-trump-vs-california"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}