Mark Abear: NYC mayor defends council employee's immigration arrest

To The Daily Sun,

New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been in office less than two weeks at the time of this letter. The Department of Homeland Security detained Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, a NYC council employee, at an immigration appointment. The Venezuelan national overstayed a 2017 tourist visa … by eight years. He had no right to be here. He had even less right to take a job from an American citizen. Oh, and by the way, he also has an arrest for assault.

Mayor Mamdani immediately took to social media calling the arrest "an assault on our democracy." That’s leadership … if one is a Democrat these days.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin observed, "He had no legal right to be in the United States … criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you, and we will arrest you."

Bohorquez was a NYC council employee with no work authorization and an assault arrest on his record. City Council Speaker Julie Menin held an emergency press conference demanding Bohorquez's release claiming he had been "cleared to remain in the U.S. until October 2026" and was "doing everything right."

There’s a difference of opinion here. The man violated federal immigration law by overstaying his visa … by eight years. That’s not doing everything right. He worked illegally for the city government despite having no work authorization. That’s not doing everything right. He got arrested for assault. And what Democrats think is; he was "doing everything right." Well, maybe not.

So how did Bohorquez get hired as a data analyst for the city council? Did anyone verify his work authorization? Did anyone run a background check to check, for say, his assault arrest? These questions show how sanctuary policies put illegal aliens on government payrolls. Is this good government?

Mark Abear

Meredith