Several elected officials in New York were arrested Thursday during a protest at an immigration office in Manhattan, according to local media reports and the Department of Homeland Security.
Among those arrested at 26 Federal Plaza — a government building that houses an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office — were New York City Comptroller Brad Lander who was arrested at the same location in June while accompanying people to immigration court visits.
In a statement, DHS confirmed that a total of 71 people were arrested during the protest Thursday, including Lander, two New York state senators and nine New York State Assembly members.
Lander posted on social media that he and other elected officials were demanding access to the facility’s 10th floor, which operates as a holding facility for detained migrants, “to conduct oversight of conditions in ICE’s de facto detention facility.”
In the statement, DHS said: “Brad Lander showed up to 26 Federal Plaza unannounced with agitators and media and proceeded to obstruct law enforcement and cause a scene. He yelled inside the building that he was ‘not leaving’ until detainees were ‘released.’”
New York ABC station WABC reported Lander and the other elected officials who were arrested would be given police summonses and then be released.
Following the arrests Thursday, the building was later placed on a lockdown because of a bomb threat, DHS said.
The facility at 26 Federal Plaza has been the scene of numerous protests in recent months amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Lander was arrested during a protest in June after being accused of assaulting a law enforcement officer. Lander denied the allegation and said he was not charged following the incident.
Earlier this week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to improve conditions for detained migrants at the holding facility inside the building.
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