arrested by federal immigration agents<\/a> at the Las Vegas airport.<\/p>\nHo-Yin Mo, a field representative for Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, is represented by a Las Vegas immigration attorney who\u2019s working to secure his release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, said University of San Francisco Law Professor Bill Ong Hing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the lawyer is asking an immigration judge to order Mo\u2019s release on bond and, failing that, would challenge the lawfulness of his detention in federal court.<\/p>\n
A hearing is scheduled for next week, according to Joe Arellano, a political strategist and former colleague of Mo\u2019s, though it\u2019s unclear in what court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Immigration court records do not show an open deportation case against Mo.<\/p>\n
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The Muhammad Ali Center, a museum and cultural center built as a tribute to the champion boxer Muhammad Ali and his values, is located in Louisville, Kentucky\u2019s \u201cMuseum Row.\u201d \u00a0(James Leynse-Corbis News\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
At the time of his arrest last Thursday, Mo was passing through the Harry Reid International Airport on his way to Louisville, Kentucky, to visit the Muhammad Ali Museum, Arellano said, adding that Mo admired the late boxer, who was an advocate for social justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always talked about the importance of democracy, as someone who came from Hong Kong and had experienced a lot of the turmoil,\u201d Arellano went on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese were ideals that he held very close to his heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stefani has called for Mo\u2019s immediate release from ICE detention and called him \u201ca valued, legal employee\u201d and a \u201cselfless public servant,\u201d but her staff declined to speak further about his case.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the California State Assembly\u2019s Rules Committee said it \u201ccan confirm that Ho Yin Mo is a current employee of the California State Assembly.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790357413_786_081726-SFUSDFIRSTDAY-09-MC-KQED.jpg\")
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks during Jose Ortega Elementary School\u2019s first morning circle of the school year on Aug. 17, 2026, in San Francisco.\u00a0(Miles Cull\/KQED)<\/p>\n
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, meanwhile, has sent a letter to the Las Vegas Immigration Court saying Mo is a \u201cpositive addition to our city\u201d and calling for his release from detention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHo Yin has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for years and has developed a strong network here. He is a contributing member of society and I do not believe he poses a danger or threat to anyone,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI hope he will be given the opportunity to return to his home, his work, and his community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arellano met Mo when they worked together on former San Francisco Mayor London Breed\u2019s re-election campaign in 2024, and said Mo was a hard worker who \u201calways went above and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having been a reporter for Chinese language TV station KTSF, he said, Mo was able to easily connect with Chinese voters and constituents.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just beloved\u2026. He was immediately recognized for his role on television as an anchor and that carried over into the work that he did,\u201d Arellano said. \u201cWe hope that sanity will prevail and that he will be able to be released and come home soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
KQED reporter Brian Krans contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ho-Yin Mo, an aide to Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, was arrested at the Las Vegas airport Sept. 17, 2026.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-475521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475521","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=475521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n