ICE Agents Arrest NYC Official and Democratic Mayoral Candidate Outside Immigration Court

Federal agents arrested New York City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander outside an immigration court after he attempted to accompany a person out of a courtroom Tuesday.

Lander is the latest in a string of Democratic elected officials who have been detained by the Trump administration during confrontations with plain-clothes agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Federal officials later released Lander after detaining him for hours in a federal building. He said in a press conference later Tuesday that no charges were filed against him. 

“I’m happy to report that I am just fine. I lost a button,” Lander said. “I’m going to sleep in my bed tonight safe with my family. I’m grateful to hear the charges are not being brought, but if they are, I have a lawyer, I don’t have to worry about my due process rights.”

Lander said he was volunteering for an immigrants’ rights organization and that the man he was helping was named Edgardo. 

“Edgardo is in ICE detention, and he’s not going to sleep in his bed tonight. As far as I know, he has no lawyer. He has been stripped of his due process rights by a government and a judge that owe him a credible fear hearing before they deport him.”

“So, I will be fine,” Lander added. “But Edgardo is not going to be fine. And the rule of law is not fine. And our constitutional democracy is not fine.”

In a social media post, the Department of Homeland Security accused Lander of “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.”

“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,” the department claimed. 

Lander did not appear to assault officers in video of the confrontation.

After his arrest, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) went to the federal building where Lander was held and demanded his release, according to The City.  

In video of the confrontation, Lander was seen asking ICE officials if they had a judicial warrant to arrest a man he was accompanying and holding on to. Multiple agents then separated Lander from the man before putting the mayoral candidate against a wall and putting him in handcuffs.

“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens for asking for a judicial warrant,” Lander said while being handcuffed.

Lander was arrested just days after President Donald Trump ordered ICE officials to increase immigration raids in cities predominantly led by elected Democrats. New York was among the cities Trump singled out in his order.

“These, and other such cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens,” Trump claimed, repeating unfounded election conspiracies about Democrats encouraging undocumented immigrants to vote.

“These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities,” the president added.

Several other elected New York officials held an impromptu presser outside the federal building and called for Lander’s release.

“ICE has no interest in the law. It has no interest in order. It only has interest in terrorizing people across this country,” said Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani. 

“In this exact moment, New Yorkers and Americans are looking to leaders to meet this moment, to showcase the courage that is necessary,” said Mamdani. “In a stark contrast to the collaboration and the cowardice we have seen, what Brad did was engage in that very moment of courage. He showed us what leadership can look like, and for that he was arrested.”

Mamdani is also running for mayor, and he and Lander have cross-endorsed each other. The city’s ranked-choice voting system allows voters to rank multiple candidates.

Last week, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by federal officials after attempting to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questions at a press conference. Before he was handcuffed, Padilla identified himself as a sitting senator. He was not formally arrested but was temporarily detained.

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), was arrested during a scuffle with Homeland Security agents in Newark last month. Last week, a grand jury formally accused her of “forcibly impeding” federal officers, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison.

McIver, who plans to plead not guilty, denounced the legal proceedings as “a brazen attempt at political intimidation.”

In recent weeks, ICE has started arresting migrants who appear at immigration courts as part of Trump’s effort to fast-track deportations. The Trump administration has assigned ICE a 3,000-person daily arrest quota.

This story has been updated with additional details.