NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander speaks out after release from ICE custody
New York, New York - New York mayoral candidate Brad Lander called for greater protections for due process rights after he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at an immigration court.
Lander was accompanied by his wife, Meg Barnette, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul as he exited the Manhattan federal building following his arrest by masked agents earlier that day.
The New York City comptroller and mayoral hopeful had spent over four hours in custody, his office said.
"I am happy to report I am just fine. I lost a button," Lander joked, before turning serious. "I'm going to sleep in my bed tonight safe with my family. I'm grateful to hear that charges are not being brought, but if they are, I've got a lawyer. I don't have to worry about my due process rights."
Lander had been volunteering for the third week in a row with the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative to accompany families amid reports that ICE agents have been swarming immigration courts to detain people showing up for hearings.
The city's top financial officer had linked arms with a man named Edgardo whom he was accompanying and asked ICE officers if they had a warrant as they tried to arrest him. Video shows the agents refusing to show any warrant and forcefully shoving Lander before handcuffing him and taking him inside an elevator.
"Edgardo is in ICE detention, and he's not going to sleep in his bed tonight. So 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," Lander said.
"I will be fine, but Edgardo is not going to be fine. And the rule of law is not fine. And our constitutional democracy is not fine."
Fellow New York politicians stand with Brad Lander after arrest
Lander went on to say that he would not be deterred by his detention from returning to accompany immigrants in court.
"This is what New York City is: it is the greatest immigrant city that the world has ever known. And we are not going to allow Donald Trump to wreck the rule of law, to deny people due process, and turn our country into something that doesn't meet its obligations under international law."
Lander's arrest saw fellow New York politicians and residents come out in support of his release.
"This is unbelievable. ICE out of New York, and then ICE must be abolished! This is a rogue agency younger than I am, and as the son of a man who lived here undocumented for 20 years, I will always proudly stand with our undocumented New Yorkers before I ever even want to look at another ICE agent," 37-year-old state Senator Jabari Brisport said at a rally in support of Lander's release.
"They are not welcome here!" Brisport continued. "And what they did to Brad Lander today is absolutely unacceptable, disgusting, and they are attempting to put a chilling effect on free speech. We will not be chilled!"
Fellow mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani said, "If this is what ICE is willing to do to a comptroller of the City of New York, imagine what they are willing to do to immigrants whose names you don't even know."
"This used to be a place where for so many New Yorkers like myself, I went for my interview – my immigration interview. Just a few blocks away is where I got my citizenship. It is now, more and more, an example of where families are being separated. And what Comptroller Lander did today is showcase that separation and the fact that the very agents who are enforcing it have no interest in following the laws of this city and have solely an interest in cruelty."
Lander and Mamdani have cross-endorsed one another in the June 24 ranked-choice Democratic primary to lead the nation's largest city. Early voting is already underway in the high-stakes contest.
Cover photo: REUTERS