Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) has dismissed an employee accused of impersonating a lawyer to assist undocumented individuals in evading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, as reported.
Bill Melugin from FOX News noted that Duckworth instructed Todd M. Lyons, the acting ICE director, to take action. In her correspondence, she referred to Lyon’s letter from November 12, 2025, which addressed the “interactions” involving prior staff members and ICE personnel.
Duckworth commented, “The office has let go of the staff member.”
In her letter, she stated, “I am responding to a correspondence dated November 12, 2025, regarding interactions between Senate Office staff and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at the St. Louis ICE Field Office. After reviewing the situation, I can confirm that neither I nor my management team were aware of, authorized, or directed the actions of our employees mentioned in your letter.”
Additionally, she said, “The employment of the staff member was terminated as of November 17, 2025.”
Duckworth’s letter followed Lyons notifying her of Edward York’s actions. York, who was part of her office at that time, allegedly claimed to represent undocumented immigrant Jose Ysmir Ayuzo Sandoval.
According to a report by Alana Mastrangelo from Breitbart News, York, who served as Duckworth’s “constitutional support coordinator,” allegedly forged “official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents” while pretending to be Ayuzo’s attorney.
Lyons informed Duckworth that York, the constitutional advocacy coordinator in her office, entered the ICE facility in St. Louis on October 29 and “asserted he was Mr. Ayuzo’s attorney” during conversations with federal agents.
York then “asked to speak with the ‘client,'” the letter states, adding, “This employee purportedly did this to reach the detainee and seek their release from custody, which he managed to achieve by creating false Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents.”
While at the facility, York met with Ayuzo, a 40-year-old undocumented immigrant with a history of four deportations and a DUI conviction, and successfully had him sign a G-28 form, according to the letter.
Allegedly, York tried to file a G-28 form “needed for attorneys to represent clients in immigration matters” without Ayuzo’s signature. Shortly after, a law firm in Collinsville, Illinois reportedly “electronically submitted the G-28” lacking Ayuzo’s signature.
ICE officials grew wary after observing posts about the incident on the Montgomery County, Illinois Democratic Party’s Facebook page, and they claimed in Ryan’s prior letter that York’s intent was to “misrepresent himself to law enforcement.”
