New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) condemned the arrest of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D), a candidate for mayor, who was detained Tuesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while guiding a defendant out of immigration court.
“Do you want to know what I really think?” Hochul said to a reporter when asked about Lander’s arrest at a press conference Tuesday.
“It’s bull—-,” she continued. “How dare they take an elected official, who’s been going down there for weeks, to escort people who are afraid to walk into a courthouse in the United States of America?”
“Because, despite them having legal status and following the rules and making their appointments, that they don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” she continued, referring to migrants attending their required court appearances but then facing ICE agents waiting to detain them.
“So Brad Lander has stepped up, to be a guiding help for them, and this is what happens to him? What the hell is happening to this country?” the governor added.
Lander campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement earlier Tuesday that masked agents took Lander and ICE detained him as Lander was escorting a defendant out of the court.
Video of the incident shows Lander leading the defendant through the hallway and requesting that the agents show a judicial warrant to detain them.
“I will let go when you show me the judicial warrant. Where is it?” Lander said to an agent.
An agent responded that they had the warrant in their hand, and Lander said he wanted to see it before he was pushed against a wall and put in handcuffs. As he was being detained, he told them that they don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens.
An agent told him he was obstructing their work, to which Lander responded, “I’m not obstructing. I’m standing right here in the hallway.”
Lander told The Associated Press that he spent the morning observing immigration court proceedings and intended to “accompany” some immigrants out of the building.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused Lander of 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,” McLaughlin said. “No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences.”
Lander is not the first public official to be detained by ICE during the second Trump administration.
Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside an ICE detention center last month, and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) is facing federal charges following a clash as she and other lawmakers attempted to see him.
Jared Gans contributed.
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