Brad Lander returning to observe immigration court after ICE arrest
New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander is expected to return to observe federal immigration court Friday, just days after his dramatic arrest.
Lander's schedule says he will be back at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, where he was arrested earlier this week, to observe the court proceedings. He is then scheduled to hold a briefing at 12 p.m.
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander arrested by ICE
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York.
Olga Fedorova / AP
Lander has been observing immigration court on separate occasions for several weeks, before things boiled over Tuesday.
He and his wife said they were escorting a man named Edgardo from the courtroom after his case was dismissed, which they said then left him with no status in the U.S., meaning he could be subject to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement detention and deportation.
Video showed masked agents try to take Edgardo into custody, as Lander asked to see their judicial warrant. Lander was then pinned against a wall and placed into handcuffs.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that he was arrested for "assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer," but he was released hours later and the charges were dropped.
"The rule of law is not fine"
"I will be fine, but Edgardo is not going to be fine, and the rule of law is not fine, and our constitutional democracy is not fine," Lander said to a crowd of supporters after he was released.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul went to immigration court to call for his release, as did several of his fellow mayoral candidates, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
"This is a sorry day for New York and our country," said Hochul. "The video is shocking. I knew I needed to come down here immediately [to] check on [his] whereabouts and do what I could to intervene."
The next day, two members of New York's congressional delegation paid a visit to 26 Federal Plaza and were able to observe immigration court but said they were denied access to an ICE field office in the building.
CBS News New York reached out to DHS for more information about why Lander was arrested and why the congressmen were turned away, but we have not heard back.
The comptroller is among 11 Democratic candidates running in a crowded primary election. Early voting wraps up this weekend, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
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