ICE arrested Ho-Yin Mo, a field representative for California Assemblywoman Catherine Stefani and former news anchor, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Thursday.
Homeland Security told The Daily Mail that he is an illegal alien from Hong Kong who entered the country legally on a temporary basis on January 13, 2020, and failed to leave by May 15, 2020.
“Work authorization or a pending application do NOT confer legal status in the United States,” DHS said.
A source told the Daily Mail that Mo is being held at the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump and is expected to stay in custody through removal proceedings.
Under Joe Biden, illegal aliens were free to fly around the country without fear of being picked up and deported. That has changed under President Donald Trump.
“DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country,” the department said. “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
Mo was a news anchor and reporter at KTSF Channel 26, the Chinese-language station in San Francisco. He also worked on Asian American outreach for then-Mayor London Breed’s failed 2024 re-election campaign.
Breed’s spokesman Joe Arellano said at the time, “When we heard that Mo was available, we jumped at the opportunity to hire him, because we know that his profile on KTSF really resonates with a lot of individuals, and his background and his experience.”
According to his LinkedIn, Mo joined Stefani’s office in 2025.
Stefani represents the 19th Assembly District, western San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. She sat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2018 to 2024.
Last October, Stefani attacked a Bay Area ICE operation in the San Francisco Chronicle.
“It is about fear and control,” she said. “We must remain peaceful, united and vigilant. This administration wants chaos. We will answer with strength, solidarity and resolve.”
Her office did not answer a request for comment about Mo’s arrest from the New York Post.
Stefani’s District director Frankie Falzon told the Daily Mail they had been “advised by legal counsel that it would not be in his interest to talk at this time.”
“We are just a few days into this. We’re trying to work through as many channels as possible now. That could change at some point.”
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