New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested Tuesday at immigration court in Manhattan.
Lander’s office said he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while observing court, where he asked for a judicial warrant in a particular case.
“While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE. This is still developing and we are monitoring the situation closely,” Lander’s campaign spokesperson, Dora Pekec, said in a statement.
Video from the courthouse showed Lander being placed into handcuffs.
“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant,” he could be heard saying during his arrest.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.
“Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413% increase in assaults against them—it is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment. No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
“What I saw today was not the rule of law,” Lander’s wife says
Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, held a news conference outside the courthouse, saying she was with him when he was arrested.
“I joined him today, because this is the third time that he has done court watching here, and I have been moved and horrified and found his stories very compelling, and I wanted to be here with him to witness for myself,” Barnette said. “What I saw was shocking and unacceptable and not in accordance — I am an attorney, I haven’t practiced law in a while, but I sure know that what I saw today was not the rule of law. That was not due process, and the way people are being treated is absolutely unacceptable in this city and this country.”
She told reporters Lander and other advocates had repeatedly asked to see the judicial warrant and grounds for deportation and they were linking arms with the person in question.
“Were surrounding the individual, locking arms. We asked — I was part of the group — and we asked numerous times for the warrant, for their names, for their badge numbers. It was unclear what agency they were from, they’re in full uniform, in many cases, with a mask pulled up over the bridge of their nose,” said Barnette. “So Brad, I assume, was saying, ‘I am an American citizen, I am asking you for the judicial warrant, you do not have grounds to arrest me.'”
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams joined the news conference and said, “Thank you to Brad Lander.”
“Sometimes, all the power we have is to be present and to witness what is happening. And everyone of any moral character, any moral consciousness will be thanking Brad Lander for being that witness and using what he could where he was with what he had to try to help someone,” Williams said. “What is happening in this country, what is happening in that building is simply unacceptable.”
Lander’s rabbi was also at the courthouse as an observer and spoke during the news conference.
“I share the public advocate’s view that I have never been as proud of him as I am today, and I’ve known him in many situations,” said Rabbi Ellen Lippmann. “I have never been as ashamed to be an American or a New Yorker as I feel today, except for the uprising from all the incredible New Yorkers who represent the good and the true and the right in this city.”
Barnette said Lander is being held inside the building and she has been told he is doing well, but she does not know when he will be released.
“I’m just very, very aware of how I feel right now, having watched Brad be taken away, and knowing that he’s going to be OK and it’s going to be OK. And for all those other families in there, they can’t say that,” she said.
Lander running for mayor of NYC
The comptroller is among the 11 Democratic candidates running to replace Mayor Eric Adams in the primary elections. He recently cross-endorsed fellow candidate, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, as they try to team up against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the race.
Mamdani quickly posted on social media to demand Lander’s release.
“NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was just arrested by Trump’s ICE agents because he asked to see a judicial warrant,” Mamdani wrote. “This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice. Release him now.”
Cuomo also commented on Lander’s arrest.
“This is the latest example of the extreme thuggery of Trump’s ICE out of control — one can only imagine the fear families across our country feel when confronted with ICE. Fear of separation, fear of being taken from their schools, fear of being detained without just cause,” Cuomo wrote. “This is not who we are. This must stop, and it must stop now.”
Last week, Lander received the support of a New York Times opinion panel of experts, who said they believe he is the best candidate to lead the city.
What advocates allege is happening in immigration court
Barnette described seeing multiple cases where the person is told that their case is dismissed and they have 30 days to appeal, but said they were then met by agents waiting for them in the hallway.
“What I saw happen, repeatedly, there and what I understand from other stories has continued to happen is that these folks have pending asylum cases, they are told, ‘your case is dismissed,’ that sounds like good news. It is not good news. What that means is that you are subject to immediate removal when you leave the courtroom,” she explained. “And the ICE agents are lining the hallway, and that is not explained to people.”
“They are kidnapping our neighbors off of the street. They are bamboozling them, they are tricking them to tell them to come here and something good will happen. And when they hear the court news, they believe something good has happened. And then they’re faced with people in fatigues, with masks on their faces, and they’re taken, having not understood even what just happened legally and what their recourse is,” added Williams. “That is something that we all have to stand up against.”
Check back soon for more on this developing story.
