In a recent chain of events concerning oversight and transparency with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested at a federal immigration court. The following day, two New York congressmen, Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler, were stonewalled in their efforts to perform an oversight visit at an ICE field office located at 26 Federal Plaza, as reported by ABC7NY.
After attempting to ensure the rights of an immigrant named Edgardo, Lander was taken into custody by federal agents. Governor Kathy Hochul later announced, standing by his side, that charges against him had been dropped. Goldman and Nadler, citing their congressional oversight responsibilities, sought access to the field office's holding area but were denied; though they were able to observe some immigration hearings, their concerns about conditions in detention persisted.
"This is ridiculous, if people are detained there, it's a detention center, and under the statute, we have absolute right under Section 527 to inspect detention centers, a right that was denied to us," Nadler lamented, as ABC7NY noted. On the other hand, litigation and cooperative measures were suggested by Goldman as potential courses of action, distancing himself from Nadler's more resigned position on waiting for a Democratic majority in Congress.
There are growing concerns about how ICE is conducting its affairs, with unidentified officers and a lack of transparency raising alarms among officials and advocacy groups. These sentiments were echoed by Goldman and Nadler, with Nadler notably questioning the propriety of ICE and FBI agents waiting in hallways wearing masks, as detailed by CBS News New York. "These people are wearing masks and are totally unidentified, and the question is, why?" Nadler said. The congressmen's denied visit continues to spotlight the veil of secrecy shrouding the treatment of immigrants in federal facilities.
While DHS failed to provide comments on the congressmen's denied visit, the public arrest of Lander and the denied oversight attempts casts a shadow over ICE's operations. Lander has accused the Trump administration of politically-motivated aggression, telling CBS News New York, "Donald Trump is working to strike fear into immigrant families and communities, and then provoke conflict." Incidents like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's and Senator Alex Padilla's encounters with ICE agents strengthen the narrative of a pattern targeting Democratic leadership.
Last but not least, the legality of ICE's detention practices at state courthouses comes into question. Immigration attorney Kaivan Shroff pointed out to CBS News New York the distinction between an administrative warrant typically used by ICE and a judicial warrant required by New York State policy for detaining undocumented individuals at a courthouse.
