New York City Council worker released from ICE custody 5 months after being detained
A New York City Council worker who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in January is now back home.
Rafael Rubio joined council members Saturday to talk about his experience at the Delaney Hall detention facility in New Jersey.
What happened to Rafael Rubio
Rubio, a data analyst working for the City Council, was detained by ICE on Jan. 12, he says, at a routine asylum interview on Long Island.
He said he was taken into custody despite having legal protection to live and work in the U.S., adding his temporary protected status as a citizen of Venezuela lasts through October 2026.
Rubio was set to be deported and spent five months at the controversial Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark.
Council Speaker Julie Menin and Rubio's attorney, along with a slew of immigration advocates, fought for his release, and he got out on June 19.
CBS News New York reached to the Department of Homeland Security for comment Saturday afternoon and have not yet heard back.
In March, DHS said Rubio overstayed a 2017 visa, was arrested for assault and had no work authorization, but the council speaker disputed that.
"A whole nightmare"
Rubio said he was scared and felt that he would never get out of Delaney Hall.
"When you called me that night, when we had that conversation, I felt like I went back to life because I was in a really dark place at that moment," Rubio told Menin. "So thank you for what you did."
"For 158 days, you were living behind bars in poor conditions. For two weeks, in solitary confinement," Menin said. "Deprived of vital medicine that you needed, and thinking that your life was over as you knew it and that your dreams of a better opportunity were gone."
"A whole nightmare from the first moment that I got detained, I was very worried about my situation, what my future would look like," Rubio said. "I'm not that guy that they are describing. I am not a criminal, and yeah, it was a very scary situation to be in."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement on Rubio's release, saying, in part, "New York City will continue to stand alongside Rafael as he defends his right to remain here. And we will continue to stand alongside every New Yorker whose dignity, due process and fundamental rights are threatened. That is what our city demands, and it is what every person deserves."
Rubio said his fight is not over yet. He said the government has appealed, but he is confident with the merits of his case and his legal representation.
