NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court, then released

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17/6/2025

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00:00This is a sorry day for New York and our country.

00:08I was literally walking the streets of Little Haiti to try and bring some comfort to a community

00:15that's under siege with a travel ban and losing their legal status.

00:20The streets were empty.

00:21People were scared.

00:23Businesses are concerned about their future.

00:26And that's when I got word of what had happened to my colleague in government, our Comptroller,

00:34Vlad Lander.

00:37The video is shocking.

00:40I knew I needed to come down here immediately and check on his whereabouts and do what I

00:45could to intervene.

00:48I'll let Brad speak about his experience, but to my knowledge, the charges, there are

00:55no charges, charges have been dropped.

00:58He walks out of there a free man.

01:00But while that is a positive outcome and a very high profile case, we're also concerned

01:10about those that are walking out of this courthouse, taken away from their families.

01:19They don't have the attention.

01:21They don't have the lawyers.

01:23And that's why the state of New York is providing $50 million to cover legal services for people

01:31who are finding themselves in this situation and continue to do what we can to support the

01:36communities and the immigration coalitions and thank them for their work that they're

01:39doing at this time.

01:43It's hard to see these people, to know their stories, to hug them, to know they've been

01:49separated from loved ones.

01:51I just want to say we're a better country than this.

01:54We're a far better country than what we're experiencing.

01:58This is New York.

02:00This is New York, a land of immigrants.

02:04We're proud of them.

02:06As I stood in the hallway, upstairs, on the ninth floor, waiting to know the whereabouts

02:12of my friend, almost everyone I spoke to who worked there in security and otherwise,

02:19they came from other countries.

02:22They're immigrants themselves.

02:24Don't forget that.

02:27I am just fine.

02:29I lost a button.

02:33But I'm going to sleep in my bed tonight, safe with my family.

02:40I'm grateful to hear that the charges are not being brought.

02:43But if they are, I've got a lawyer.

02:45I don't have to worry about my due process rights.

02:48At that elevator, I was separated from someone named Edgardo, who I had just met a couple of

02:54minutes earlier.

02:56Edgardo is in ICE detention, and he's not going to sleep in his bed tonight.

03:00So far as I know, he has no lawyer.

03:03He has been stripped of his due process rights by a government and a judge that owe him a credible

03:10fear hearing before they deport him, and yet have decided instead to strip folks like

03:17Edgardo and the prior gentleman that I walked out with, whose native language is Yoruba, and

03:23who only got a translator in French.

03:26And so when the judge said, do you understand what it means that after I dismiss your case,

03:31you'll have no status?

03:33He said, no status, as he recognized what was about to happen.

03:38So I will be fine, but Edgardo is not going to be fine.

03:42And the rule of law is not fine.

03:46And our constitutional democracy is not fine.

03:52This is the third week in a row that I've come down here with Immigrant Arc to accompany families

04:03out of this building.

04:05And before today, I had walked four families out, all of whom were afraid that they were

04:11going to be detained by ICE agents, and yet who were able to walk out of the building,

04:16even though they had had their cases dismissed and are subject to expedited removal, but were

04:21nonetheless able to get out of that building and at least get back to their kids, get back

04:26to their families, try to figure out what's next.

04:29Today, Meg, I really want to say a big thank you to my wife, Meg, who was here with me doing

04:34it. Meg and I were able to walk out, a family of four, beautiful, what did you get their names?

04:44No, so four, like a mom, a dad, a five-year-old and a four-year-old, beautiful kids, Meg's Spanish

04:52is a lot better than mine, so she took their names, they have one week, the judge gave them

04:58one week to come back and talk about why they fear being deported to their country.

05:03And so we're certainly going to follow up with them, we got their number, and are going to

05:07make sure that at least they get as much help as we can provide, as New York City, as New

05:12York State can provide, to help them avoid being separated or being detained.

05:19But then when we went back upstairs, again, we had these next two cases, this Yoruba gentleman

05:25and then Edgardo, who we just tried to walk out of the building, and I think you saw the video.

05:32All I tried to do was just hold Edgardo's arm and ask the ICE agents, do you have a warrant?

05:40And they would not show me the warrant, and I said I'd let go of his arm as soon as they

05:45showed it to me, and they did not show it to me, and you saw what happened.

05:51I will say they treated me just fine after that.

05:54And it is true, Governor, you know, as you just said, that the two ICE agents who detained

06:00me, one is a Pakistani Muslim immigrant who lives in Brighton Beach, and the other is an

06:07Indo-Guyanese gentleman who lives in South Ozone Park.

06:12This is what New York City is.

06:15It is the greatest immigrant city that the world has ever known, and we are not going

06:21to allow Donald Trump to wreck the rule of law, to deny people due process, and to turn

06:29our country into something that doesn't meet its obligations under international law.

06:35And so I just engaged in that tradition of accompaniment, of trying to bear witness, of trying to walk

06:42peacefully with someone, of trying to make sure that the rules are followed, and that

06:47we would know what their badge numbers were, and that we would be able to see the judicial

06:51warrant before he was detained because we don't know where Edgardo is now.

06:57No one is able to be in touch with him, and our country is better than that, badly on him,

07:05and what New Yorkers are deciding right now.

07:09We are normalizing family separation.

07:11We are normalizing due process rights violations.

07:15We are normalizing the destruction of constitutional democracy, and we're not going to stand by

07:21and let it happen.

07:22This city, 8 million New Yorkers, 40% of them, themselves immigrants, themselves foreign-born.

07:29Like those two officers, 50% of New Yorkers live in mixed-status households, including one

07:38million children.

07:40That is the future of our city that we are fighting for, and I was proud to be out here

07:45with Immigrant Arc.

07:47I will keep coming back.

07:49I do want to say, you know, I am grateful to the governor for coming.

07:52I'm grateful to all of you for being here.

07:55I believe it is important to show up and bear witness and accompany people and to do it in

08:04the tradition of nonviolent witness.

08:07We are not going to give Donald Trump and his goons any excuse for ratcheting up conflict

08:15or violence.

08:16It is possible to show up and protect New Yorkers and protect people who have the right to seek

08:21asylum and insist on due process and do it in the best traditions of nonviolent witness

08:28and show that this city, the greatest immigrant city the world has ever known, the city with

08:33that statue out in the harbor saying, send me your tired, your poor, your wretched masses

08:38yearning to breathe free, that we will do it in a way that honors that statue, that honors

08:45our traditions, that shows what New Yorkers look like.

08:48Thank you all very much for being out here.

08:49Everyone, one moment.

08:51Okay.

08:52I appreciate you all.

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