Feds Arrest Yet Another Democrat For The Crime Of Helping Others Under Attack From ICE

Legal Issues

from the lawfare-is-only-allowed-when-maga-does-it dept

I’m old enough to remember Republicans claiming that any lawsuit against a Republican was “lawfare” and political persecution. But, as with so many things in the modern MAGA GOP, the reason they said such things was because, given the chance, they would totally seek to engage in actual political persecution and lawfare against anyone who stood in their way.

In just the last few weeks, we’ve seen multiple examples of Democrats (and only Democrats) arrested for trying to get a better understanding of what actions ICE was taking with immigrants or making sure that immigrants understood their civil rights under the law (something ICE has made clear it doesn’t want them to know).

The latest target comes during yet another disturbing escalation by ICE: the DHS has begun targeting refugees and asylum seekers who are fully playing by the rules. These people are voluntarily going to court to advance their case, legally, seeking to gain official permission to stay in the US.

What’s happening, according to multiple reports, is that the Kristi Noem’s DHS is literally secretly dropping their cases, then having ICE agents grab the people as soon as they exit the court room in order to deport them. Contrary to what Trump and the MAGA crowd will tell you, these are not hardened criminals or lawbreakers. They were literally following the law in seeking permanent residence papers. And, in the middle of it, DHS secretly drops their cases, while lining up ICE agents to grab them as they leave the courtroom, to then seeks to deport them (not necessarily back to their own country) without any due process.

If they wanted due process, they could let the court cases continue. But they don’t want due process.

That brings us to NYC Comptroller (and mayoral candidate) Brad Lander, who was arrested by ICE agents while visiting an immigration court. Lander has recently taken to going to immigration court hearings and trying to help those at risk from this new tactic. He’s done it twice before with no incidents, but on Tuesday, ICE agents arrested him, claiming he was interfering.

Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller who is running for mayor, was arrested on Tuesday by federal agents at an immigration courthouse in Lower Manhattan as he tried to escort a migrant whom agents were seeking to arrest.

Mr. Lander, a Democrat, was observing proceedings at the city’s main immigration courthouse, at 26 Federal Plaza, where an increasing number of migrants who appear for court have been arrested in recent weeks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security later said that Mr. Lander had assaulted and impeded a law enforcement officer, though as of Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Lander had not been formally charged.

Videos taken by reporters at the courthouse show Mr. Lander standing by a migrant man in a hallway on the 12th floor when several men in plainclothes who appear to be law enforcement officers, some wearing masks, push past a crowd in the hallway to arrest the migrant.

For all the fake talk you’ll hear from the MAGA faithful about how they support “lawful immigration” and they just don’t like “illegal” immigration, they can’t explain how this is fair. These cases often involve people who were migrants and asylum-seekers seeking permanent residence in the US. They’re following the lawful process to do so, including by showing up in court at the right time, even as the government has now made that dangerous.

It’s beyond sickening and simply pretty far along the “evil” spectrum to deliberately target the people who are actually following the law and are actually seeking to engage with the legal process for obtaining documentation and permission to permanently reside in the US.

Lander was out there trying to help people do that and have their civil rights protected. Instead, both he and the guy he was seeking to protect were arrested and held. As Lander noted upon his release two hours later , at least he’s still able to go home to his own bed, while the guy he was walking with has been detained and is likely to be deported with no real due process.

This story has a bit of everything regarding our fucked up immigration and enforcement systems.

1. ICE targeting people who are going through the proper legal process.
2. Secretly dismissing lawsuits since it’s faster and easier (and involves significantly less due process) to just ship them out of the country (to their home? who knows? who cares?).
3. Positioning ICE agents outside the courtrooms where these hearings are being held, just waiting to snatch the people who were following the rules.
4. Culminating in the arrest of NYC’s comptroller and mayoral candidate for trying to help a confused immigrant through this attack on his due process.

And, once again, the Trump administration lies with impunity about what happened:

In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, the parent agency of ICE, said that Mr. Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.”

“Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413 percent increase in assaults against them,” she added. “It is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment. No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences.”

There was zero evidence shown of him assaulting law enforcement or impeding them. But that’s just how this goes now. ICE does something horrific, and Tricia McLaughlin pops up on cue like Baghdad Bob, to insist that it’s really everyone else at fault, while DHS is faultless. McLaughlin’s routine is predictable: whatever ICE does wrong, she’ll manufacture a justification for it while attacking anyone who questions their tactics.

And while some people (including McLaughlin) have accused this of being a “stunt,” it really doesn’t seem like it was (again, Lander has been doing this multiple times without incident, suggesting he might actually just want to help). But more to the point: if it was done as a stunt, well… good! We should want politicians using every bit of whatever privilege they have to help highlight the sheer ridiculousness and vindictiveness of Trump and Noem’s immigration policies.

Having DHS drop cases involving immigrants following the legal process then grab them immediately outside the courtroom is absolute bullshit, deserving of widespread condemnation and news coverage. If it takes Lander showing up and trying to help people to turn that into news, so be it.

So here we are. The same people who spent years screaming “lawfare!” every time a Republican faced legal consequences for actual crimes are now using federal law enforcement to target people who are literally following the legal immigration process—and arresting the officials who try to help them navigate that process.

This is what actual weaponization of law enforcement looks like: not investigating crimes, but punishing people for complying with the law. Not going after lawbreakers, but going after those who dare to help others exercise their legal rights.

We need more politicians willing to engage in these kinds of “stunts” in standing up for civil liberties and against this administration’s authoritarian overreach. It’s important that more people know what’s happening and just how authoritarian and ridiculous our government is becoming. If what it requires is “stunts,” then that’s what needs to be done. If that means a politician gets more attention in the process, is that really a bad thing? Shouldn’t we want politicians willing to fight for civil rights and civil liberties of all constituents?

Filed Under: brad lander, dhs, donald trump, ice, immigration, lawfare