According to the Daily Mail, California Assemblymember Catherine Stefani—a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies—is now facing a situation where a member of her own staff has been arrested; Ho Yin Mo, a Hong Kong-born staffer, has been taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Las Vegas.
Mo serves as a field representative for Stefani, whose district covers parts of San Francisco and San Mateo County. He was arrested on the 17th during an ICE operation at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to the Daily Mail on the 22nd that “ICE arrested Ho Yin Mo, an illegal alien from Hong Kong, during a targeted enforcement operation.”
According to the DHS, Mo entered the U.S. legally on a short-term status in January 2020 but “failed to depart by May 15, 2020, and remained in the country illegally beyond his authorized stay.”
The agency added: “Neither a work permit nor a pending application constitutes legal status in the United States.”
Mo previously worked as a news anchor and reporter for KTSF Channel 26, a Chinese-language television station in San Francisco.
He also served as an Asian and Pacific Islander community outreach organizer for the 2024 re-election campaign of then-San Francisco Mayor London Breed, a bid that ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Joe Arellano, a spokesperson for Breed at the time, said upon hiring Mo: “When we learned Ho Yin Mo was interested in joining, we hired him immediately because we knew the image he had built at KTSF, combined with his background and experience, would truly resonate with many people.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mo had been working in Stefani’s office since January 2025.
Meanwhile, Stefani has consistently been a critic of ICE’s arrests of undocumented immigrants. In a report by the San Francisco Chronicle last October, the Democratic lawmaker issued a statement harshly criticizing an ICE immigration enforcement operation in the Bay Area, calling it an abuse of power that directly threatened community safety. She stated at the time, “This is about fear and control.”
A source revealed to the Daily Mail that following his arrest, Mao Haoyan is currently being detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, located west of Las Vegas.
The source added that Mao is expected to remain in custody pending the outcome of deportation proceedings.
Regarding Mao’s arrest, the Department of Homeland Security stated: “DHS has reversed the Biden administration-era policy that allowed foreign nationals illegally present in the U.S. to freely travel by air within the country.” It added, “Under President Trump, efforts are being made to ensure that foreign nationals illegally present in the U.S. cannot board aircraft—unless they are departing the country on their own.”