The U.S. Elected Officials Who Have Been Arrested or Approached by Authorities While Protesting Trump's Immigration Crackdown
Local officials and members of Congress have been handcuffed, slammed to the ground, and detained by law enforcement while objecting to the Trump Administration's policies in multiple high-profile confrontations as mass deportations are carried out across the country.
New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander became the latest elected official to be detained amid protests over the Administration's crackdown when he was arrested by Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday.
Lander, who said he has been attending immigration court hearings in Manhattan for the past three weeks, was seen in a crowded hallway holding on to a man who was being detained by ICE. 'I will let go when you show me the judicial warrant,' Lander can be heard saying in video of the incident. 'You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant.'
At least four other officials have been arrested or confronted by authorities after speaking out against the Administration's immigration policies in recent weeks. Here's what you should know about each of them.
Sen. Alex Padilla
California Sen. Alex Padilla was slammed to the ground and handcuffed after he disrupted a press conference being held by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on June 12.
The tense interaction came after Noem said DHS officials would continue their operations in Los Angeles—the site of multi-day protests over ICE raids and the Administration's broader immigration stance—to 'liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed into this city.' Trump sent National Guard members and Marines to the city to quell the demonstrations against California Gov. Gavin Newsom's wishes, igniting widespread backlash.
Video of the incident shows Padilla attempting to ask Noem a question before two men push him back. Padilla, who identified himself as a Senator, asked agents to keep their 'hands off' as they forcibly removed him from the room.
'If that is what the Administration is willing to do to a United States Senator for having the [audacity] to simply ask a question, imagine what they'll do to any American who dares to speak up,' Padilla said in a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday. The California Senator, who is the son of Mexican immigrants, called Trump a 'tyrant' who continues to 'test the boundaries of his power.'
Many politicians have denounced Padilla's removal from the press conference. Former Vice President Kamala Harris called the incident a 'shameful and stunning abuse of power' in a post on X.
Brad Lander
Lander, who has been the New York City Comptroller since 2022 and is currently running for mayor, was arrested on Tuesday while accompanying a man he identified as Edgardo out of immigration court.
When authorities sought to detain Edgardo, Lander repeatedly asked to see a judicial warrant. 'You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens,' Lander told ICE agents, before he was handcuffed and taken into custody himself.
Lander was released later that afternoon after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the arrest and advocated for his release.
'This is a sorry day for New York and our country,' Hochul said in a press conference following Lander's release.
Asked about the 'trend' of elected officials being detained over immigration issues while speaking with Democracy Now! after his release, the comptroller said the Trump Administration 'wreak havoc.'
'They're trying … to 'liberate' Democratic cities from their duly elected officials. This is part of what authoritarians do: strike fear into immigrant families and communities and try to undermine the rule of law and basic democracy by stoking conflict,' Lander said. 'Our challenge is to find a way to stand up for the rule of law, for due process, for people's rights, and to do it in a way that is nonviolent and insistent, demands it, but also doesn't help them escalate conflict.'
On Wednesday, Lander called out the Trump Administration for what he called immigration escalation 'Gestapo tactics' while speaking with MSNBC.
Several other Democrats also came to Lander's defense on social media and called for his release.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the arrest 'political intimidation,' while Sen. Padilla said he was 'not shocked' by the action.
Ras Baraka
Ras Baraka, the Mayor of Newark, was arrested after traveling on May 9 to inspect Delaney Hall, a privately run federal immigration detention center that he accused in March of violating safety protocols.
Baraka, who is running for governor, and three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation—Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman— tried to enter the facility.
ICE agents arrested Baraka on trespassing charges.
Homeland Security officials accused the lawmakers of 'storming the gate' and trespassing into the detention facility, posting a video of the arrest on X and asking viewers to 'check the tape.'
Rep. McIver and other members of Congress, though, argued that they were just trying to perform their duties as elected officials.
'The way we were treated at Delaney Hall is almost unbelievable. ICE shoved me, manhandled
@repbonnie, and arrested @rasjbaraka,' McIver posted on X. 'They disrespected us and tried to stop us from conducting the oversight we're elected to do. But we'll never back down in our fight for what is right.'
Baraka himself posted the moment that he was escorted into Delaney Hall. 'Nobody was kicking or shoving like the coverage suggests. We were invited in.'
The mayor was released hours after being detained. He sued New Jersey's top federal prosecutor, interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, earlier this month over his arrest, arguing that the Trump-appointed attorney had pursued the case out of political spite and seeking damages for 'false arrest and malicious prosecution.'
LaMonica McIver
In the wake of the same incident, McIver was indicted by the Department of Justice on June 9 for allegedly "impeding and interfering with federal officers' during Baraka's arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The indictment includes three counts of "assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering" with federal officers—charges that could include a prison sentence if McIver is convicted.
In a statement after the indictment was announced, McIver called the proceedings a 'a brazen attempt at political intimidation.'
'This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump's administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do,' McIver said. 'But it won't work—I will not be intimidated. The facts are on our side, I will be entering a plea of not guilty, I'm grateful for the support of my community, and I look forward to my day in court.'
Hannah Dugan
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan became the first of these elected officials to be detained when she was arrested on April 25 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on charges of concealing a defendant to prevent his arrest by ICE.
The indictment against Dugan alleges that she allowed for the defendant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, to exit through a backroom of the courthouse.
'Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected ICE agents away from this criminal illegal alien to obstruct the arrest and try to help him evade arrest,' the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release. 'Thankfully, our FBI partners chased down this illegal alien, arrested him and removed him from American communities.'
FBI director Kash Patel alleged in an X post the day of Dugan's arrest that she 'misdirected' agents away from Ruiz and 'created increased danger to the public'— and then deleted the post.
After the arrest, Padilla came out in support of Dugan. 'These attacks on our justice system and the judges that uphold it do nothing but tear down the very foundations of what is most important to our country — those unalienable rights,' he said in a statement.
More than 130 retired federal judges have also come to Dugan's support, penning a letter arguing that she should not be prosecuted since 'she is entitled to absolute immunity for her official acts.'
Dugan will now face charges and is awaiting trial, which was originally set to begin in July but has since been postponed.
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