New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested Tuesday at a Manhattan immigration court, becoming the latest elected official to be detained or forcibly removed during immigration-related encounters as the Trump administration intensifies deportation efforts nationwide.
Lander said he had been regularly attending immigration court in recent weeks to observe proceedings and escort asylum seekers after their hearings. On Tuesday, he was accompanying a migrant when federal officers moved in to make an arrest, according to video footage and Lander’s account.
Videos circulating online show Lander standing beside the man and locking arms with him as officers approached. When agents asked Lander to step aside, he and several bystanders appeared to resist, leading to a brief scuffle. Footage shows an officer pushing Lander against a wall, placing an arm near his neck, and handcuffing him.
“You don’t have a judicial warrant,” Lander can be heard telling officers in the video. As he was taken into custody, he said: “You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens. I’m not obstructing. I asked to see the judicial warrant.”
Following his release later that day, Lander told CNN that he posed no threat and accused authorities of stripping migrants of due process. He said many asylum seekers appear in court without lawyers and are often unaware they could be arrested immediately after their cases are dismissed.
“I’m going to sleep in my bed tonight, safe with my family,” Lander told reporters. “If charges were brought, I’d have a lawyer. I don’t have to worry about my due process rights.”
The Department of Homeland Security has issued directives since January allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to conduct enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have “credible information” that individuals targeted for arrest will be present. DHS considers court hallways public spaces where arrests can be made without a warrant.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin accused Lander of “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer” during the incident, comments she made during an appearance on Fox News.
Lander’s arrest is one of several involving elected officials amid heightened immigration enforcement.
Last week, Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was speaking about the federal response to anti-ICE protests. Video shows Padilla identifying himself as officers escorted him out of the room, pushed him to the ground, and placed him in handcuffs.
Padilla later said he was not arrested or detained and had simply attempted to ask a question. Noem said Secret Service agents believed Padilla could be a threat and acted accordingly, adding that she later met with the senator and described their discussion as productive.
In May, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested and charged with trespassing after attempting to enter an immigration detention facility alongside members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation.
The charge was later dropped. Baraka said he did nothing wrong and framed the incident as part of a broader fight against what he described as divisive immigration policies.
Baraka has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda and has opposed the opening of a 1,000-bed detention center in Newark, arguing it lacks proper permits.
That same visit to the Newark facility has also led to federal charges against Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver. Prosecutors allege she interfered with immigration officers during a chaotic confrontation outside the center.
Body camera footage shows McIver in close quarters with officers, with prosecutors alleging she struck an officer with her elbows. McIver has denied wrongdoing, calling the charges baseless and saying she was acting within her authority as a member of Congress.
Earlier this year, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested and charged with obstruction and concealing an individual from arrest after allegedly helping a defendant evade immigration officers waiting at her courthouse.
According to court documents, Dugan confronted federal agents and questioned their authority. The Wisconsin Supreme Court later barred her from exercising judicial powers while the case proceeds.
Taken together, the incidents underscore rising tensions between federal immigration authorities and local and state officials, as the administration expands enforcement actions in courthouses and other public spaces.
Critics say the approach undermines due process and intimidates both migrants and their advocates, while federal officials argue the measures are necessary to enforce immigration law.
This article was first published on CNN
