When Brad Lander invited reporters to federal immigration court in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, he might have predicted some, but not all, of what would follow.
Mr. Lander, the New York City comptroller who is running for mayor, said his prime goal was to help escort immigrants from the building, acting as a physical buffer to dissuade immigration agents from interceding.
He said that getting arrested “was certainly not my plan.”
But Mr. Lander was arrested, roughly handled and handcuffed by federal agents, with the confrontation recorded and seen by millions. He was held for several hours before the authorities released him without filing criminal charges.
And when he emerged from custody, he was met by a cheering crowd of hundreds of people, including Gov. Kathy Hochul.
His arrest put him at the center of a national debate over immigration and due process following the similar treatment of other Democrats, including Senator Alex Padilla of California and Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark.
It was a rare moment of unity on the mayoral campaign trail, with several candidates criticizing his arrest and calling for his release, and a moment in the spotlight for Mr. Lander, who has been running a distant third in the polls.
The politics of immigration are fraught across the country, and Democrats broadly are trying to walk a fine line. But in New York’s Democratic primary, the issue is far less polarizing, with the candidates largely mirroring voters’ opposition to President Trump’s large-scale deportations.
Mr. Lander held a news conference on Wednesday morning in Manhattan to reiterate his commitment to defending immigrants. He said he was most concerned for Edgardo, the immigrant whom he had locked arms with and who was detained.
“What New York City needs right now is a mayor and a leader who will stand up to protect New Yorkers,” he said.
Some leaders in New York and beyond said that Mr. Lander’s arrest was political grandstanding intended to grab attention for his struggling campaign, comparing it to former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s arrest as a candidate in 2013 at a protest over the closing of a hospital.
Most of the attacks came from Republicans, including Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor, who said that Mr. Lander intended to get arrested, calling it an act of “civil disobedience.” But some came from allies of Mayor Eric Adams, with one senior adviser, Menashe Shapiro, calling the arrest a “stunt.” Another, Frank Carone, recirculated a picture of Mr. Lander being dragged away and commented, “Academy Award goes to …”
Mr. Lander said in an interview on Wednesday that he had visited the courthouse twice before to help escort immigrants out of the building without incident and did not expect to get arrested.
But Mr. Lander said he had seen how harshly Mr. Padilla and Mr. Baraka were treated and viewed those confrontations as part of Mr. Trump’s efforts to “ratchet up conflict” to justify measures like using the National Guard. He said he was prepared for anything.
“We are living in a scary time, and it’s important that leaders show up,” he said.
Mr. Lander, 55, is well known in New York City politics after three and a half years as comptroller — an unglamorous job dedicated to managing pension funds and conducting audits — and 12 years in the City Council representing Park Slope in Brooklyn. He has been a standard-bearer for progressive causes and ran for mayor not on charisma, but as someone well versed in municipal minutiae.
He has trailed former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani, a progressive state lawmaker. He had only 8 percent of first-choice votes in a new poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, though his campaign noted that it was conducted before a recent surge of interest in his campaign.
Basil Smikle, a professor at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies and a Democratic political strategist, said that Mr. Lander had some momentum, and it was not too late for him to get his message out.
“Now he has to remind voters why he’s in the race as a citywide elected official who knows how government works,” he said.
Mr. Lander recently made a cross-endorsement with Mr. Mamdani, with the two men urging their supporters to rank each other second under the city’s relatively new ranked-choice voting system. They are hoping to combine their supporters to beat Mr. Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 after a series of sexual harassment allegations that he denies.
On Wednesday, Maya Wiley, a civil rights lawyer who finished third in the 2021 mayor’s race, endorsed Mr. Mamdani as her first choice, followed by Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker; Mr. Lander; State Senator Zellnor Myrie; and Michael Blake. She called Mr. Mamdani a “bold and principled leader who will fight the attacks from Washington.”
If enough voters cross-endorse Mr. Lander and Mr. Mamdani at the top of their ballots, it would be more likely to benefit Mr. Mamdani, who, at this point, seems the clearest threat to Mr. Cuomo. A super PAC tied to Mr. Cuomo’s interests has launched a $5.4 million barrage of negative television advertisements aimed at him in the final days of the campaign.
But Mr. Lander could also emerge as an alternative for voters who are worried about Mr. Mamdani’s limited experience and Mr. Cuomo’s record as governor.
Mr. Lander said in the interview that Mr. Cuomo was too conservative to stand up to Mr. Trump and pointed out that the former governor had referred to undocumented immigrants as “illegal immigrants” at the second debate before correcting himself.
“I hope people who care about standing up to Trump, protecting immigrant New Yorkers and defending the rule of law will resoundingly keep him off their ballots,” Mr. Lander said.
Mr. Lander said that he hoped that he would win or that “one of the candidates who has a real track record of standing up to protect New Yorkers, including immigrant New Yorkers, will win this race.”
Mr. Cuomo has criticized Mr. Lander repeatedly on the campaign trail, drawing attention to his past support for the “defund the police” movement and arguing that Mr. Lander, who is Jewish, was anti-Israel.
Mr. Adams, a Democrat who is running as an independent in the general election in November, did not comment on Mr. Lander’s detention on Tuesday — a notable silence among elected officials in his party.
He said on Wednesday that Mr. Lander had “just joined the club” in being arrested by federal officials, in reference to the mayor’s indictment last year on federal corruption charges. The case was later dropped by the Trump administration.
“I know what it is to get arrested by federal authorities because you’re fighting to say it is wrong what you were doing to migrants,” Mr. Adams said, arguing that he was targeted because of his criticism of the Biden administration over an influx of migrants in the city.
Mr. Lander said that Mr. Adams was “bringing shame to New York City” by partnering with the Trump administration on immigration and was “too busy” giving a Gracie Mansion interview with the conservative influencer, Sneako, to “show up and say we care about the rule of law.”
As for whether Mr. Lander might return to the courthouse to assist other immigrants, he said that he would.
“I intend to go again,” he said, “and I urge other New Yorkers to sign up and volunteer to bear witness.”
Samantha Latson contributed reporting.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons is the City Hall bureau chief for The Times, covering Mayor Eric Adams and his administration.
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