NEW YORK, NY — A federal judge denied a New York City Council staffer’s request for release from immigration detention, ruling he no longer holds Temporary Protected Status and can remain in custody as his case proceeds.
Judge John Cronan, who serves in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, found that Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez’s protected status had been withdrawn, rejecting his petition for release.
Bohorquez, a personnel services data analyst for the New York City Council, has been held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since mid-January, when agents arrested him during an asylum interview at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office on Long Island.
His attorney, Roger Asmar, argued in court filings that Bohorquez submitted paperwork in October to extend his Temporary Protected Status, and that the application remains pending.
The federal government halted processing of those applications shortly after President Donald Trump took office, according to the filings.
The case has drawn attention from New York officials, who have called for Bohorquez’s release. New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin criticized the ruling.
“This is a deeply unjust outcome,” Menin said in a statement. “Rafael has had legal authorization to live and work in the United States and did everything he was asked to maintain good standing.”
Advocates say that, for years, immigrants were allowed to remain in the United States while such applications were under review.
“Everyone’s application is still pending, more or less,” said Jessica Bansal, an attorney with the National TPS Alliance, which is challenging the administration’s effort to end protections for certain groups. “TPS would be useless if it didn’t work like that.”
Bohorquez, a Venezuelan national, previously held Temporary Protected Status with work authorization. Federal attorneys argued that status was revoked when the administration moved to end the program for certain countries last year.
Other judges in the Southern District have recently ordered releases for detained immigrants in similar circumstances, but Cronan’s ruling diverged, keeping Bohorquez in custody as legal challenges over the policy continue to move through the courts.