In NY?! Well then it’s ok, illegals are a protected class. You know NY wants to let him go.
As suggested by this headline.
He is not an "illegal" in the usual sense - according to the press in this event he is simply "not in the country legally".
As an aside, there were some even on these pages 10-15 years who seriously argued that "illegals" were not actually illegals and should not be thought of as such.