New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has been arrested by federal agents at an immigration court, as the administration of US President Donald Trump steps up its confrontational approach with local officials over immigration raids. Lander, a central candidate in the city’s Democratic primary election for mayor, was escorting a defendant out of court on Tuesday as part of an effort to observe immigration hearings and promote legal services for immigrants when he was arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to a post on Lander’s social media account, written by his wife, “While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE.” The arrest is the latest case of the Trump administration taking a harsh stance towards Democratic officials who are critical of its aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.
Other mayoral candidates have rallied to Lander’s side, with New York State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani calling the arrest part of a trend of ICE “terrorizing people across the country” and former state governor Andrew Cuomo calling it “thuggery” by the Trump administration. In a video of Lander’s arrest, he looked to be trying to hold arms with the defendant before agents – some wearing face masks – physically separate the two and handcuff the comptroller.
Lander can be heard repeatedly asking for a judicial warrant, which is required for immigration arrests under some circumstances. An officer holds up a paper saying it is a warrant, though he does not pass it over. After cuffing Lander, federal agents can be heard telling the comptroller that he is “obstructing” as he tells them they “don’t have authority to arrest US citizens”.
Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, described the incident at a press conference shortly after the arrest. “They said, ‘You’re obstructing,'” Barnette said. “I was shoved out of the way.” “What I saw was shocking and unacceptable,” added Barnette, who is a lawyer. “What I saw today was not the rule of law.”
The US Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that Lander was arrested for “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer” and accused him of undermining public safety to “get a viral moment”.