Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-IL) office has fired a staffer who was accused of pretending to be an attorney to free an illegal alien from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, according to a report.
Fox News’s Bill Melugin shared a letter that Duckworth directed at Todd M. Lyons, the Acting Director of ICE. In her letter, Duckworth explained that she was responding to Lyon’s November 12, 2025, letter “regarding interactions between” her now-former staffer and ICE officials.
Duckworth added that her “office has terminated the employment” of the staffer.
“I am writing in response to your November 12, 2025 letter regarding interactions between an employee of my Senate Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the St. Louis ICE Field Office,” Duckworth’s letter said. “Upon reviewing the matter, I can confirm that neither I nor my leadership team was aware of, authorized or directed what your letter describes as the employee’s conduct.”
“My office has terminated the employment of said employee, effective November 17, 2025,” Duckworth added.
Duckworth’s letter came after Lyons sent the Democrat senator a letter informing her that Edward York — who was working in her office at the time — claimed that he was the lawyer for Jose Ismeal Ayuzo Sandoval, an illegal alien.
Breitbart News’s Alana Mastrangelo reported that York, who had been a “Constituent Outreach Coordinator” for Duckworth, falsified “an official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) form,” along with falsely claiming to be Ayuzo’s lawyer:
York, a Constituent Outreach Coordinator for Duckworth’s Senate office, entered an ICE facility in St. Louis, Illinois, on October 29, “and in a discussion with a federal officer, claimed to be Mr. Ayuzo’s attorney,” Lyons told Duckworth in his letter.
From there, York “demanded to speak with his ‘client,’” the letter continues, adding, “This staff member allegedly did so to gain access to the detainee and seek his release from custody, and he accomplished it by falsifying an official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) form.”
While at the facility, York successfully met with Ayuzo — a 40-year-old illegal immigrant who has been deported from the U.S. four times and who had a DUI conviction — and got him to sign a G-28 form, the letter said.
York allegedly attempted to submit a G-28 form, which “is needed for an attorney to represent a client on immigration matters,” without Ayuzo’s signature. Days later, a law office located in Collinsville, Illinois, reportedly “filed a G-28 electronically,” without Ayuzo’s signature.
According to Lyon’s earlier letter, ICE officials reportedly became suspicious after coming across a post on the Montgomery County, Illinois, Democrats’ Facebook page about the situation and reportedly claimed that York’s goal had been to misrepresent “himself to law enforcement.”
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