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LONG ISLAND — A NEW YORK CITY Council staffer was detained Monday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while attending what Council Speaker Julie Menin described as a routine immigration hearing at a federal office in Bethpage, Nassau County, reports THE CITY.

Menin said the staffer, a Venezuelan national who works as a data analyst in the Council’s central staff, had legal authorization to remain in the country through October and no prior arrests. After being detained, he was transferred to a holding cell in Lower Manhattan.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security claimed the staffer had overstayed a tourist visa in 2017 and had no authorization to work. 

The New York Legal Assistance Group said it is preparing an emergency habeas petition, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for the staffer’s immediate release.

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