A New York City Council employee who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement more than two months ago must be deported, a federal judge says.
City Council data analyst Rafael Rubio is set to be deported back to his native Venezuela based on an immigration ruling made Wednesday.
When he was detained at a routine immigration hearing on Long Island back in January, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said he overstayed a 2017 tourist visa, was arrested for assault and had no work authorization.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin has been fighting for his release ever since.
“We engaged with many members of Congress – Congress Member Dan Goldman, Congress Member [Grace] Meng. We engaged with Congressman Garbarino, who is the chair of the Homeland Security committee,” she said.
Despite their efforts, she said Rubio was denied bond and has remained in ICE detention in Lower Manhattan.
“Today, in immigration court, Judge Conroy deemed Rafael’s asylum application, quote unquote, ‘abandoned’ based on a technical issue related to a missing signature,” Menin said. “The judge refused to allow the issue to be corrected.”
She said federal procedure allows applications to be cured for good cause and Rubio’s attorney even offered to fix it within an hour.
“That is not justice. That is an extreme, cruel, inhumane outcome based on a technical procedural issue,” Menin said.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James posted on Facebook, in part, “This deportation order is outrageous … He followed the law. He should be released.”
CBS News New York contacted DHS and ICE for comment and has not yet heard back.
The judge has given Rubio’s attorney until April 17 to file an appeal of the deportation order. He remains in ICE custody until then.
Menin said Rubio’s legal team is continuing to fight for him to be released while this is sorted out, saying he has cleared all background checks to work for the city.
In February, Rubio’s attorney told the judge he had a Temporary Protected Status application. Protected status for Venezuelans was terminated by DHS this past October, but Rubio’s legal team continues to fight.