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New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was detained after an incident inside an immigration court in the city, a spokesperson for his mayoral campaign told NBC News Tuesday — the latest in a series of high-profile clashes between immigration officials and Democratic politicians.
Kat Capossela, Lander’s press secretary, told NBC News in an email that “Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE,” a reference to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, after “escorting a defendant out of immigration court.”
Speaking outside the courthouse at a press conference held by his official office, Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, told reporters that Lander remains in custody and “I am confident that Brad will be out soon.” It’s unclear whether he’s been arrested.
A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees ICE, did not immediately return a request for comment about Lander’s status or if he will face charges. And Lander’s spokesperson didn’t provide additional details as to who he was escorting, but Barnette said the incident took place while Lander was “court watching” as she criticized immigration officials’ handling of cases involving immigrants accused of being in America illegally.
Lander is running in next week’s Democratic primary for mayor of New York City.
The incident is the latest in a series of dramatic confrontations between immigration officials and Democrats opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Last week, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was then a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, was also arrested on trespassing charges last month at an ICE detention facility in the state. The charges against him were dropped, but Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver was subsequently charged with assaulting law enforcement during the incident. Trump and his “border czar” Tom Homan also suggested that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass could be arrested too.
The Democratic officials and their allies have argued that the incidents were politically motivated and criticized the administration’s conduct, while the Trump administration has fiercely defended immigration agents and accused Democrats of staging political stunts.
In a video posted to Lander’s personal account on X, Lander can be seen surrounded by people, including masked officers in vests adorned with the word “police.” At one point, someone can be heard saying “put him in custody,” and the men holding Lander as they scuffle with the comptroller before pinning him to a wall and handcuffing him.
“I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant,” he said.
“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant,” he added.
Lander is then led into an elevator with his hands behind his back as an aide can be heard asking, “Where are you taking the Comptroller of the city of New York?”
During her press conference, Barnette echoed Democratic criticisms of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, arguing that judges were dismissing charges against defendants before being turned over to federal agents to begin the process of deporting them.
“This is not the way we deal with rule of law, this is not the way people are treated in the United States,” Barnette, a former attorney, said.
“I feel really rattled and scared, and my husband is a candidate for mayor, is an elected citywide official, is U.S. citizen,” she said. He “has a U.S. passport and I know in all likelihood he is okay. And all of the other folks in that building are risking having their families torn apart with inadequate explanation. And it’s an abomination.”
She added that a member of Lander’s New York Police Department security detail accompanied him along with the law enforcement who detained him, and that he is “well.”
Prominent city officials and politicians joined Barnette at the press conference outside the courthouse, including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán and Assemblyman and fellow mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, another Democrat seeking the nomination to become the city’s next mayor, on X called the episode “the latest example of the extreme thuggery of Trump’s ICE.”
State Attorney General Letitia James criticized “the administration’s rampant targeting of New Yorkers” in a statement and called the episode “a grotesque escalation of tensions.”
Ben Kamisar is a national political reporter for NBC News
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