New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams were among more than a dozen state and city lawmakers taken into custody Thursday afternoon by federal officers during demonstrations at federal immigration courts in Lower Manhattan.
According to reports, Lander was detained by Homeland Security officers along with ten other officials while they staged a sit-in on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. The group displayed a banner that read “NYers Against ICE” outside a detention area used to hold immigrants following court appearances.
For about 20 minutes, the officials demanded entry into the holding cells to inspect conditions but were refused by federal agents. Afterward, they unfurled the banner and continued occupying the hallway for another 40 minutes until they were handcuffed. Their aim, they said, was to check whether federal authorities were complying with a court order addressing overcrowding and what they described as unsanitary and inhumane conditions inside.
“Immigration courts should be places of justice, but in reality, have become abduction traps,” Lander said in a statement. “Each week, I witness ICE agents become brownshirts, conducting more abductions and becoming increasingly violent as they detain our immigrant neighbors in deplorable conditions or ship them to far away places.”
Lander’s office reported that state Senators Julia Salazar of Brooklyn, Jabari Brisport of Brooklyn, and Gustavo Rivera of the Bronx were also arrested. Assembly Members Marcela Mitaynes, Tony Simone, Jessica González-Rojas, Clare Valdez, Robert Carroll, Emily Gallagher, and Steven Raga were likewise taken into custody.
“We attempted to conduct oversight of the 10th floor to ensure compliance with this preliminary injunction ruling,” González-Rojas said in a statement. “We put our bodies on the line for the lives and freedom of thousands of New Yorkers who have been illegally kidnapped and detained by ICE. Many of us, myself included, were arrested.”
Meanwhile, another group — including Williams — was arrested outside the building by NYPD officers for blocking the driveway. That group included Council Members Tiffany Cabán of Queens and Sandy Nurse of Brooklyn, as well as Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest of Brooklyn.
Williams, in a statement, said their actions were part of a peaceful protest to call attention to ICE’s practices. “Even under this creeping authoritarianism regime, I expect to be released today to go home to my family, but the people we’re fighting for don’t have that privilege, as ICE disappears, and deports them,” he said. “Together with the dozens of New Yorkers getting arrested today, I call for all levels of government to do what they can to support our immigrant communities and vulnerable, marginalized populations.”
This marked the second time Lander has been arrested at Federal Plaza. In June, ICE agents allegedly roughed him up as he sought to check on the case of a detained immigrant.
Thursday’s confrontation was seen as a sharp intensification of President Trump’s immigration enforcement push across New York City.
The arrests came after months of elected officials appearing at immigration courts to observe proceedings and protest the detention of immigrants following hearings. Since early June, lawmakers have repeatedly been denied entry into ICE holding areas on the 10th floor of Federal Plaza and other facilities.
{Matzav.com}
We are so proud of Brad, for his getting arrested like this, for his backing Mamdani, and all his other leftist work. What a great kuvid for B.P. to have such a Chusid.