A Venezuelan New York City Council staffer has been released from ICE detention after five months in custody — but he may still face deportation.
Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, 53, was taken into custody on Bethpage, Long Island, Jan. 12 with federal authorities alleging the data analyst had a criminal record and lied about it on paperwork seeking asylum and Temporary Protected Status.
In March 2023, he was arrested for third-degree assault causing physical injury in Queens after allegedly punching a roommate, but that record was later wiped clean, sources previously told The Post.
Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, 53, was taken into ICE custody in January and released this last week after being granted asylum. ICE.govHe then failed to mention the incident when he applied for an extension of his work authorization status on Jan. 17, 2025, before the Trump administration ended the 2023 Biden-era program that allowed Venezuelans, Haitians, and other migrants to work in the US for up to two years, feds alleged.
Rubio Bohorquez was released by Judge Ann M. Donnelly on June 19 and walked out of Delaney Hall in Newark on $5,000 bond after he was granted asylum in immigration court on May 27.
But the Department of Homeland Security appealed the asylum ruling on June 22.
“He was ordered released by an Obama-appointed, activist judge,” an agency spokesman told The Post.
“We will do everything in our power to fight for the removal of this criminal illegal alien. He will receive full due process.”
City Councilmember Sandy Nurse speaks at a news conference in support of Rubio Bohorquez on Jan. 13 outside Greater New York Federal Building in downtown Manhattan. Getty ImagesCity Council Speaker Julie Menin celebrated his release Saturday.
“After 158 days in unjust ICE detention, our Council colleague Rafael Rubio was finally released,” Menin wrote on X.
“He followed the rules. He showed up for a routine appointment. And after months of legal action and advocacy, he is home where he belongs. We could not be more overjoyed or inspired by Rafael’s strength,” Menin concluded.
Rubio Bohorquez first came to the US on a tourist visa in 2017 and later was granted Temporary Protective Status that allowed him to work — joining the City Council staff in January 2025.
In April, he changed legal council to The Bronx Defenders after being encouraged to do so by Menin and was shortly thereafter granted asylum.
The Supreme Court ruled last October that the Trump administration could strip deportation protections from 300,000 Venezuelans in the US.
Lawyers for Rubio did not respond to request for comment.
