With Messi sitting out again, Suárez and Allende score to lead Inter Miami past Cavalier FC 2-0

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Luis Suárez and Tadeo Allende scored second-half goals with a healthy Lionel Messi on the bench, and Inter Miami beat Jamaican club Cavalier FC 2-0 on Thursday night in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup group of 16 match.

Messi sat out his second straight game. He didn’t travel with Miami to Houston for a Major League Soccer match against the Dynamo on Sunday night, which Miami won 4-1.

“For us, we feel it when we don’t have Leo,” first-year Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said. “I think any team in the world that doesn’t have Leo will feel that.”

Allende retrieved a pass from Sergio Busquets and beat Cavalier goalkeeper Vino Barclet from 12 yards out in the 61st minute, with his shot landing inside the left post.

Suárez connected in the 83rd minute. He retrieved a ball deflected off Cavalier defender Shamar Watson’s foot and blasted a shot from 20 yards.

“We played with fire and when you play with fire, you are likely to get burned,” Mascherano said. “We didn’t play with the rhythm we planned for in the first half. There was no intensity. In the second half, we attacked much better and dictated the game.”

An apparent goal by Cavalier forward Shaquille Stein late in the first half was overturned because of an offside infraction after a video review that lasted seven minutes.

“Our fitness level dropped to start the second half, probably from the disappointment of not having the goal allowed,” Cavalier coach Rudolph Spied said.

The second leg will be on March 13 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Mascherano reiterated that Messi is not injured but has experienced some fatigue after playing three games in six days before the two-match absence. Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, participated in the two practices that preceded the match.

But he was not in the lineup that was announced an hour beforehand. Messi watched from a private box.

“Not having the best player is complicated but we have to take a step forward and learn to play without him,” Mascherano said.

Cavalier, which won the Jamaican Premier League title last season, advanced to this phase of the Champions Cup after winning the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup in December. The club remains scoreless in the Champions Cup after 2-0 and 4-0 losses against FC Cincinnati last year.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Inter Miami forward Luis Suárez, left, is congratulated by midfielder Yannick Bright (42) after scoring a goal during the second half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer match against Cavalier Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami defender Jordi Alba attempts a shot on the goal during the second half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer match against Cavalier Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami defender Maximiliano Falcón (37) heads the ball against Cavalier forward Shaquille Stein, left, during the first half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer match Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Cavalier midfielder Christopher Ainsworth (11) kicks the ball as Inter Miami midfielder Federico Redondo, left, defends during the first half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer match Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami forward Tadeo Allende, left, celebrates with midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, right, after scoring a goal during the second half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer match against Cavalier Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami forward Luis Suárez, right, kicks to score a goal during the second half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer match against Cavalier Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami forward Tadeo Allende, left, celebrates with midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, right, after scoring a goal during the second half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup soccer match against Cavalier Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City Council employee detained in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is an asylum-seeker from Venezuela, according to a court petition seeking his release.

Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez was arrested Monday at a scheduled immigration check-in, enraging city leaders and drawing protesters Tuesday to the Manhattan federal building where he is being held.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Rubio Bohorquez had long overstayed a tourist visa, had once been arrested for assault and “had no legal right to be in the United States.”

City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputed that, telling reporters that Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst for the city legislative body, was legally authorized to work in the U.S. until October.

Menin, a Democrat, said the council employee signed a document as part of his employment confirming that he had never been arrested and cleared the standard background check conducted for all applicants.

The court petition, reviewed Tuesday by The Associated Press, said Rubio Bohorquez — identified in the document as R.A.R.B. — had always been seeking asylum and was arrested at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum office in Bethpage, on Long Island.

Menin called it a regular check-in that “quickly went awry.”

The document, known as a petition for writ of habeas corpus, said Rubio Bohorquez has no criminal record — no arrests, charges or convictions. A hearing on the petition is scheduled for Friday.

ICE confirmed Rubio Bohorquez’s name. Menin said she wanted to protect his identity and referred to him only as a council employee.

“We are doing everything we can to secure his immediate release,” Menin told reporters Monday. She decried the arrest as “egregious government overreach.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, said he was “outraged” by what he called “an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul referenced Rubio Bohorquez’s arrest in her state of the state speech on Tuesday, asking: “Is this person really one of the baddest of the bad? Is this person really a threat?”

“I will do whatever it takes to protect New Yorkers from criminals, but people of all political beliefs are saying the same thing about what we’ve seen lately: Enough is enough,” said Hochul, a Democrat.

Menin said officials were attempting to reach Rubio Bohorquez’s family and obtain contact information for his immigration lawyer.

The nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group filed the habeas petition on Rubio Bohorquez’s behalf. The organization’s president and CEO, Lisa Rivera, said it represents dozens of people who have been wrongfully detained by ICE and hundreds who are following immigration procedures in hopes of staying in the U.S.

“This staffer, who chose to work for the city and contribute his expertise to the community, did everything right by appearing at a scheduled interview, and yet ICE unlawfully detained him,” Rivera said in a statement.

According to ICE, Rubio Bohorquez entered the U.S. in 2017 on a B2 tourist visa and was required to leave the country by Oct. 22, 2017. He has been employed by the City Council for about a year, Menin said. His position pays about $129,315 per year, according to city payroll data.

“He had no work authorization,” ICE said in a statement confirming Rubio Bohorquez’s arrest. The agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said that under Secretary Kristi Noem “criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you.”

Several dozen people protested Tuesday outside the Greater New York Federal Building, where Rubio Bohorquez was being held. Some carried signs that said “Abolish ICE” and “No Human Is Illegal.”'

Venezuela, whose former President Nicolás Maduro was seized Jan. 3 by U.S. forces, has been roiled for years by violence and economic instability. Nearly 8 million people have fled the South American nation since 2014, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Last year, President Donald Trump's administration ended Temporary Protected Status that had been allowing hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan refugees to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation. It wasn't clear from court papers whether Rubio Bohorquez had been a part of that program.

Disputes over an immigrant’s work authorization have arisen before, in part because many employers rely on E-Verify. The system compares information provided by employees with records available to the government but doesn’t automatically notify an employer if an employee’s right to work is later revoked.

Matthew Malloy, Executive Board Member with the Association of Legislative Employees, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Alexa Avilés, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Chi Ossé, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Carlos Calzadilla, President of Brooklyn Young Democrats, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People raise signs during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)