Tag Archives: Brad Lander

Newsweek: NYC mayoral candidate arrested by ICE says agents feel overworked

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New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander has told Newsweek that ICE agents expressed feeling “overworked” shortly after detaining him at a downtown court earlier this week.

“I talked to the ICE agents afterward, and it’s clear to me they are being overworked,” Lander said in an interview on June 19.

“I asked what their shifts were. And they say, we really don’t have shifts anymore,” he added.

Poor crybabies should get respectable jobs.

Lander and other critics called the arrest further evidence of what they described as a drift toward authoritarianism by the Trump administration.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Newsweek: “Like many Democrat politicians before him, Mayoral Candidate Brad Lander seems to think obstructing federal law enforcement is his ticket to fame. Unfortunately, it’s just his ticket to being arrested.”

More often than not, these bogus “obstructing” charges are dropped. They are nothing more than harassment.

In response for comment to the suggestion ICE agents are being overworked, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin: “Under Secretary [Bimbo #2] Noem, we are delivering on President Trump’s and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America safe.”

Repeating a lie doesn’t make it true. Arresting and deporting non-criminal aliens does nothing to make America safe.

NYC mayoral candidate arrested by ICE says agents feel overworked
Lander was detained by President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcers on June 17 at a downtown Manhattan immigration court.

https://www.newsweek.com/brad-lander-ice-agents-2088020

Guardian: Outrage as DHS moves to restrict lawmaker visits to detention centers

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The US Department of Homeland Security is now requiring lawmakers to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.

The guidance comes after a slew of tense visits from Democratic lawmakers to detention centers amid Donald Trump’s crackdowns in immigrant communities across the country. Many Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks have either been turned away, arrested or manhandled by law enforcement officers at the facilities, leading to public condemnation towards Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (Ice) handling of such visits.

Lawmakers are allowed to access DHS facilities “used to detain or otherwise house aliens” for inspections and are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility”, according to the 2024 Federal Appropriations Act.

Previous language surrounding lawmaker visits to such facilities said that “Ice will comply with the law and accommodate members seeking to visit/tour an Ice detention facility for the purpose of conducting oversight,” CNN reported.

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In response to the updated guidance, Mississippi’s Democratic representative and the ranking member of the House committee on homeland security, Bennie Thompson, condemned what he called the attempt by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, to “block oversight on Ice”.

“Kristi Noem’s new policy to block congressional oversight of Ice facilities is not only unprecedented, it is an affront to the constitution and federal law. Noem is now not only attempting to restrict when members can visit, but completely blocking access to Ice field offices – even if members schedule visits in advance,” Thompson said.

“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny member visits to Ice offices across the country, which are holding migrants – and sometimes even US citizens – for days at a time. They are therefore detention facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie.”

Outrage as DHS moves to restrict lawmaker visits to detention centers
Elected officials told to give 72 hours’ notice before visiting immigration facilities, with some sites completely off limits

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/19/dhs-immigration-detention-center-visits-new-guidance

Slate: Trump Promises to Keep Terrorizing Blue Cities. It Might Come Back to Haunt Him.

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Donald Trump won the presidency in part on promises to deport immigrants who have criminal records and lack permanent legal status. But his earliest executive orders—trying to undo birthright citizenship, suspending critical refugee programs—made clear he wants to attack immigrants with permanent legal status too. In our series Who Gets to Be American This Week?, we’ll track the Trump administration’s attempts to exclude an ever-growing number of people from the American experiment.

President Donald Trump’s immigration raids have disrupted life in Los Angeles in a way the mayor is comparing to COVID; they’ve created a climate of fear that’s driving people into hiding and hurting local businesses. This week, the president promised to expand those raids in blue cities, all in a futile attempt to hit 1 million deportations by the end of the year. After suggesting last week that ICE would stop targeting the agriculture and hotel industries, which disproportionately rely on immigrant labor, the administration also walked back that guidance.

And a troubling trend is emerging: As Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts get more aggressive and reckless, several elected officials who attempted to conduct oversight or question what is being done have been arrested.

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“Overwhelmingly, Americans do not want ICE raids that focus on those without criminal records. That’s why polls show that Trump is losing voter approval on these key issues,” Mukherjee said.

Trump Promises to Keep Terrorizing Blue Cities. It Might Come Back to Haunt Him.
And Democrats keep getting arrested while trying to hold ICE accountable.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/06/donald-trump-brad-lander-ice-raid-los-angeles.html

CNN: DHS issues new guidance for lawmakers visiting ICE facilities after tense confrontations

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After a spate of tense encounters involving lawmakers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, the Department of Homeland Security is asking members of Congress to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.

Under the annual appropriations act, lawmakers are allowed to enter any DHS facilities “used to detain or otherwise house aliens” to inspect them as part of their oversight duties. The act outlines that they are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility.”

The agency’s new memo also seeks to differentiate ICE field offices from detention facilities, noting that “ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities” and therefore do not fall under the appropriations act provision.  

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, called the move “unprecedented” and an “affront to the Constitution and Federal law.”

DHS issues new guidance for lawmakers visiting ICE facilities after tense confrontations | CNN Politics
The agency’s new memo seeks to differentiate ICE field offices from detention facilities, noting that “ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities” and therefore do not fall under the appropriations act provision.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/19/politics/dhs-ice-visits-congress-lawmakers

Mediaite: ‘Disgusting’: Republican Senator Rips Federal Agents Who ‘Wrestled’ U.S. Senator to the Floor, Urges Civility From Politicians

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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, denouncing federal agents detaining and wrestling Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) to the floor as “disgusting” – while also urging leaders to act with restraint and civility instead of trying to “trend on social media by getting in somebody’s face.”

Problem is, our Grifter-in-Chief and his band of sycophants thrive on insulting and diminishing others. Unless Trump is impeached or kicks the bucket, these behaviors will be par for the course until 2029.

‘Disgusting’: Republican Senator Rips Federal Agents Who ‘Wrestled’ U.S. Senator to the Floor, Urges Civility From Politicians
“It was disgusting to me to see somebody wrestled to the floor, anybody, but particularly a U.S. Senator that’s in a federal building.”
‘Disgusting’: Republican Senator Rips Federal Agents Who ‘Wrestled’ U.S. Senator to the Floor, Urges Civility From Politicians

Mediaite: Top NYC Democrat Goes Off After Being Released Following ICE Arrest: Not Going to Allow Trump to ‘Wreck the Rule of Law’

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New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was defiant in his message to President Donald Trump on Tuesday following his arrest by ICE agents.

Hours earlier, Lander attended immigration court hearings to support the migrants attending their scheduled hearings. The comptroller intended to walk out of court with them to ensure they weren’t detained. He claimed he had done so multiple times in the past without incident.

This time, however, the scene quickly turned chaotic. As Lander locked arms with a man and tried leaving with him, ICE agents surrounded them and separated the two. Moments later, Lander tried to do the same with another man who’d just attended his immigration hearing. This time, agents also placed Lander in handcuffs. He was detained several hours.

Around 3:15 p.m. ET, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul arrived at the facility where Lander was detained. Roughly an hour later, Lander emerged from the building with and was met with cheers.

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The Department of Homeland Security accused Lander of assaulting an agent, but video footage of the incident clearly showed the comptroller simply held onto the men the agents tried to detain. He maintained at the presser that he just wanted the agents to provide him with a warrant authorizing the arrests.

Lander also confirmed that the charges against him had been dropped.

Another Democrat in handcuffs, phony charges later dropped.

Welcome to King Donald’s fascist Amerika!

Top NYC Democrat Goes Off After Being Released Following ICE Arrest: Not Going to Allow Trump to ‘Wreck the Rule of Law’
New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was defiant in his message to President Donald Trump on Tuesday following his arrest by ICE agents.
Top NYC Democrat Goes Off After Being Released Following ICE Arrest: Not Going to Allow Trump to ‘Wreck the Rule of Law’

Raw Story: ‘Show me your badge!’ NYC mayoral candidate arrested by ICE

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New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D), who’s running to be the city’s next mayor, was arrested by ICE agents at an immigration court in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

Politico’s Jeff Coltin posted the arrest video to X, writing, “Mayoral candidate Brad Lander was cuffed and detained by ICE agents after asking to see a warrant for people who were detained after an immigration hearing.

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amNewYork reported, “The city’s elected financial watchdog, and a Democratic candidate for mayor, appeared at 26 Federal Plaza on the morning of June 17 to observe immigration hearings involving individuals marked for potential deportation. Lander’s arrest, which amNewYork observed, occurred as the comptroller and his staff walked arm-in-arm with an immigrant whom federal agents — representing ICE, the FBI and the Treasury Department, each of whom wearing masks to conceal their faces — moved to seize after a court hearing. Moments earlier, the immigrant had their case dismissed pending appeal.”

The news outlet reported, as ICE agents moved in to arrest him, Lander yelled: “Show me you warrant! Show me your badge!”

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-arrests-ny/

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-arrests-ny

CNBC: NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested by ICE

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New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested Tuesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while he was escorting a defendant out of immigration court.

“While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE,” Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, wrote on X.

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Lander repeatedly asked the officers to show him a judicial warrant before he is handcuffed, per the video posted by Barnette.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/17/brad-lander-ice-mayoral-comptroller.html