Brad Lander Escorts Migrant Families Out of Federal Court to Protect From ICE After Cases Dismissed

June 5, 2025 – Manhattan, New York: Comptroller and Democratic mayoral hopeful Brad Lander personally escorted three migrant families out of the Ted Weiss Federal Building on Broadway this Thursday, after an immigration judge dismissed their deportation cases. Video shows Lander guiding the relieved families in tears to the nearby subway entrance, pausing for a celebratory group hug.

This is followed a tense two-week stretch in which plain-clothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested multiple immigrants outside and inside NYC Courts following case dismissals.  cruelty designed to strike fear,” Lander told reporters earlier in the day that recent ICE tactics had turned th

Lander described this as unlawful, saying it’s turning city’s immigration courts into “lawless places where due-process rights are ripped away.”

Lander observed Thursday’s hearings as part of the “Friend of the Court” program run by the advocacy coalition Immigrant ARC, which trains volunteers to accompany respondents and monitor proceedings.

Lander urged more New Yorkers to volunteer as court observers: “Showing up in solidarity matters.”