Trial underway for ex-NYC comptroller Brad Lander after immigration court arrest | New York
The lawsuit against Brad Lander, a New York City Democrat, stemming from his arrest while attempting to inspect rooms where detained immigrants were held, began Wednesday in Manhattan federal court.
Lander was cited for the violation for allegedly blocking the elevator bank on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, where the major immigration courthouse in Manhattan is located.
Lander, the former city auditor who is now running for Democratic incumbent Dan Goldman’s congressional district covering lower Manhattan and northwest Brooklyn, was taken into custody at 26 Federal Plaza on Sept. 18, 2025.
“Today’s hearing is for the court to decide a narrow issue: whether on September 18, 2025, Bradford Lander unreasonably obstructed the ordinary use of the elevators and elevator lobby on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza,” prosecutor Ariel Cohen told magistrate Henry Ricardo.
“He ignored multiple warnings to move and instead began chanting the phrase ‘We will not move’.”
Michael Bass, one of Lander’s attorneys, insisted that his client “did not block an elevator on the 10th floor of 26 federal plaza, did not block an elevator lobby, did not block an elevator bank.”
He said Lander went to the 10th floor to inspect ICE’s “temporary” detention facility. “He was the New York City comptroller at the time and was concerned about the safety of his constituents.”
Bass also admitted that the facts at issue seemed minor (this was a case about an alleged blocked elevator) but these proceedings pointed to a deeper problem.
“Arrest is the cudgel of repression, and this case is yet another example of the administration suppressing political dissent,” Bass said.
Lander, along with several other local elected officials, traveled to this sprawling tower, which houses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office, amid Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.
When agents began arresting people in immigration court, which Lander’s legal team described as “a complete reversal of decades of federal practice that largely avoided making arrests at immigration courthouses,” the number of arrests exceeded capacity at processing and transfer facilities.
Lander’s attorney said in court documents that ICE instructed field offices to use their respective “waiting rooms” to detain immigrants for up to three days, up from the previous maximum of 12 hours. ICE officials also said detained immigrants may be held longer in “exceptional circumstances.”
Lander’s team also claimed that people held at 26 Federal Plaza holding cells were “rarely held for more than a day” (the January-April 2025 average was six hours) but that by mid-June 2025, detention had increased to 103 hours. 26. Some immigrants detained in rooms at Federal Plaza filed a lawsuit, claiming overcrowding and squalid conditions.
Manhattan federal court judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE must improve conditions. Tiger on September 17 sided plaintiffs “to protect from unconstitutional and inhumane treatment persons who are included in the management program and sent to the 26 Fed Waiting Room….” requesting injunctive relief.
Lander and 10 other elected officials decided to inspect the 10th-floor warehouse rooms and “ensure ICE complies with orders and federal and state laws.” The group was allowed into 26 Federal Plaza after Lander told security guards that they were elected officials.
When they arrived on the 10th floor, an officer near the elevator bank outside the double doors leading to the waiting rooms “immediately told the group they would not be allowed in,” Lander’s attorney said in court documents. Authorities tried to explain why they wanted to inspect the rooms, and Lander said: “A federal judge stated that the conditions behind that door were a violation of federal law, cruel and inhumane, and we read that decision and believe it is our responsibility to come here and see for ourselves.”
They were not allowed to inspect the waiting rooms, but an officer told them they could stay there as long as they did not slam the doors. The group agreed to stop banging on the doors leading to the waiting rooms and sat down.
Lander’s legal team said in court documents that they chanted and sang as they continued to demand access to waiting rooms and shared why they were there. When the last elected official in this group began to share what brought him to 26 Federal Plaza, an officer said: “Under federal regulation, if you refuse to leave, you will be arrested. You are currently violating the law. You are protesting illegally.”
“Just 33 seconds after the new alert was issued… FPS officers began arresting” and issuing tickets to each of the seated elected officials, Lander’s attorney said in court documents. Lander’s ticket for the infraction alleged “obstructing.”[ed] entrances, foyers and corridors”.
Federal officials offered to lift the violation in October, but one of the conditions was “no protests at any federal building for six months.” Lander refused.
