New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York.
Olga Fedorova | AP
New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested Tuesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as he was escorting a defendant out of immigration court, his wife said in a statement.
“While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE,” Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, wrote on X.
“This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely,” Barnette wrote.
Video of the incident posted online shows Lander standing outside a courtroom at the city’s main immigration court when he is approached by officers, including some wearing masks.
Lander repeatedly asks the officers to show him a judicial warrant before he is handcuffed, per the video posted by Barnette.
The Department of Homeland Security said Lander was arrested for “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer,” but it was not immediately clear whether those were the formal charges.
Lander is still in custody as of early Tuesday afternoon, Barnette said during a press conference after the incident. Lander has a personal lawyer and counsel from the city, she also said.
“I am just very aware of how I feel right now watching Brad being taken away and that it’s going to be ok, and for all of those other families in there, they can’t say that,” she said.
Lander, a candidate in next week’s Democratic primary for New York City mayor, has observed court proceedings at the immigration courthouse at least two other times, Barnette said.
The incident comes days after police handcuffed Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., after he was forcibly removed from a press conference that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was holding in Los Angeles.
“If that is what the administration is going to do to a United States senator for having the authority to simply ask a question, imagine what they will do to any American who dares to speak up,” Padilla said during remarks from the Senate floor on Tuesday.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York.
Olga Fedorova | AP
New York Attorney General Letitia James condemned Lander’s detention as a “profoundly unacceptable” event.
“Arresting Comptroller Lander for the simple act of standing up for immigrants and their civil rights is a shocking abuse of power,” James said in a statement.
She also said it was a “grotesque escalation of tensions,” and that the Trump administration’s “rampant targeting of New Yorkers only makes our communities less safe.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
