After Brad Lander's arrest by ICE, New York congressman say they were denied oversight visit at field office
A day after New York City Comptroller and current Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested at federal immigration court, two members of the state's congressional delegation say they were denied access for an oversight visit Wednesday.
Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler said they observed two court proceedings at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, where Lander was arrested Tuesday. But they also requested access to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office located inside the building, and were denied.
"Even though we are allowed to show up unannounced by statute and we must be allowed in, we gave advance notice that we would be coming this morning. And they still denied our access," Goldman said Wednesday morning. "They said this is not a 'detention facility,' even though the statute very clearly says that we are allowed in to any facility that is being used 'to detain or otherwise house aliens.'"
"This is ridiculous. If people are detained there, it's a detention center. Under these statutes, we have [an] absolute right, under Section 527, to inspect detention centers -- a right that was denied to us," said Nadler. "We can only wonder what they are hiding in these detention centers, or in this detention center, that they would deny us our absolute legal right to inspect it."
CBS News New York has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for a response and we have not yet heard back.
"Why can't we go in?"
Goldman said he and Nadler are concerned about the conditions inside the field office and reports of people being detained overnight and sleeping on benches or the floor.
"These are non-violent, non-criminal immigrants going through the proper process," Goldman said, adding they are being "deceptively removed in an expedited fashion."
He called it unacceptable and said they will continue to push for access, claiming the Department of Homeland Security is violating the law.
"The question is: Why can't we go in? What are they hiding?" Goldman continued. "If they're going to treat Comptroller Lander, if they're going to treat Sen. Padilla, if they're going to treat Congresswoman McIver the way that these agents have been treating them, as if it's a police state, out in the open in the public, how are they treating immigrants behind closed doors?"
Nadler also raised concerns about ICE and FBI agents waiting in the hallways and wearing masks.
"These people are wearing masks and are totally unidentified, and the question is, why? The question is, why? It's completely improper and, again, one has to assume they're hiding something or they're hiding misbehavior, because otherwise why would they be wearing masks and denying their identity?" Nadler said.
Goldman is on the Homeland Security Committee and said he will be asking his Republican colleagues to direct the DHS to allow them access. Nadler also threatened legal action.
Brad Lander arrested by ICE agents
Tuesday's incident began with Lander holding onto a man, whom he identified as Edgardo, following his immigration hearing. Video shows masked ICE agents try to take the man into custody, and then take Lander into custody.
"You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens," the comptroller is heard saying on a video of his arrest.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Lander was arrested "for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer."
He was released four hours later, with his wife and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul by his side.
"Charges have been dropped, he walks out of there a free man," the governor said.
"You can see what happened, and the DHS statement is not accurate," Lander later told CBS News New York.
Lander said he was volunteering with an immigration organization and was trying to accompany Edgardo out of court after his immigration case was dismissed. Lander explained the judge had been asking people with cases like Edgardo's if they understood that once their case was dismissed, they would have no status in the U.S. Having no status, he said ICE can then detain and move to deport them.
"I feel very fortunate to have been able to go home and sleep in my bed and be with my family," Lander said of the incident Wednesday morning. "Everyone could see what happened very clearly on live TV, and I most certainly did not assault or lay hands on anyone. We'll see what happens, but I was there to stand up for the rule of law and protect New Yorkers."
"The Trump administration has been telling immigration judges, work quickly, dismiss as many cases as you can, and close cases out," added Murad Awawdeh, of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Lander accuses Trump administration of "provoking conflict"
Lander said he believes what happened was politically motivated by the Trump administration.
"Pam Bondi made it very clear what they're doing. They're going after the leaders of Democratic cities with a political intention of provoking conflict," Lander said in an interview Tuesday night. "Donald Trump is working to strike fear into immigrant families and communities, and then provoke conflict."
Several public officials rallied against Lander's arrest, including fellow mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York, and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
"It's highly unusual and quite concerning, and I think the best evidence of that is that all charges were dropped and he was released within hours, which really does suggest it was a bad arrest," attorney Kaivan Shroff explained to CBS News New York. "ICE certainly doesn't have the authority to detain U.S. citizens in that way and, of course, they didn't really have probable cause against Brad Lander."
The United States Southern District Court of New York said it is investigating. Lander and his wife said he was arrested while asking the agents to see a judicial warrant and the grounds for deporting Edgardo.
Immigration attorneys say ICE agents do not need a warrant to arrest noncitizens in immigration court, but Shroff explained what a judicial warrant is and why it matters in this case.
"An administrative warrant, which is what ICE had, is really just a piece of paper signed by an ICE official. Whereas, a judicial warrant has that authority of a judge behind it and is signed by a judge," he said. "And why it matters in this situation is because ICE does, by immigration law, only need that administrative warrant. But in New York state, it is New York court policy to require a judicial warrant to detain an undocumented person at a place like a courthouse."
CBS News New York reached out to ICE multiple times for details about why Lander was arrested, but the agency has not answered our questions.
