Dem NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander seen aiding illegal immigrants to avoid ICE at courthouse prior to his arrest
“You could help try to walk families out of the building, give them a little sense that New York cares about them and we’re not going to let their rights be stripped away.”
New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday for obstructing an operation at a federal immigration court in the city. This is not the first time Lander has been at the courthouse attempting to escort illegal immigrants out of the building as ICE has been making courthouse arrests across the nation.
Lander was seen escorting illegal immigrants out of the Ted Weiss Federal Building after their immigration case was dismissed, and walking them to a nearby subway station, where he was seen in footage from Oliya Scootercaster hugging the duo before they boarded the train.
Lander said in a video that he had been invited to “bear witness” that day by a Friends of the Court program. He said that families came to the building for hearings and ICE “is making them subject to what’s called expedited removal.”
“What’s happening right now is terrifying for immigrant New Yorkers. It’s terrifying for the city of New York. It’s terrifying for the rule of law. So I thought it was important to show up and see for myself. These are families who have been here for more than a year, who have applied for asylum, and they have a right to have their case heard, but what Donald Trump and ICE are doing now is stripping that right away from them.”
“So what I got to do was walk those families out of the building, and they feared that they would be picked up by ICE agents and never see their kids again. Thankfully, there’s a friends of the court program, and they invited me to bear witness, but the rule of law is being stripped away before our very eyes.”
“I thought it was important to bear witness, to show up, to do what I can to help these families see that New Yorkers we value, to process we respect that statue in the harbor that says, ‘Send me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.’ I’d urge others to sign up with the friends of the court program. You could bear witness in immigration court. You could help try to walk families out of the building, give them a little sense that New York cares about them and we’re not going to let their rights be stripped away.”
The following day, activists were seen attempting to prevent such detentions from taking place outside of the courtroom. Lander wrote, “Yesterday, I was on hand at federal immigration court to support and assist families whose cases were dismissed, leaving them vulnerable to arrests by ICE. Those I met expressed a deep fear of the exact cruelty and violence that many experienced at Federal Plaza today. We must stand up to hate & protect NYC’s immigrant communities from Donald Trump’s xenophobic agenda.”
