Some Democrats are finally standing up to Trump – even if it gets them arrested | Opinion
Not all Democrats are afraid to push back against Donald Trump's immigration policy. Some are willing to be detained.
- NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by ICE while protesting their actions.
- Lander joins a growing number of Democrats facing legal trouble for opposing Trump's immigration policies.
- Lander's arrest has brought him more attention in the mayoral race, where he trails Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani.
In safely blue areas of the country, constituents are asking themselves who has the audacity to stand up to President Donald Trump’s extreme immigration agenda. Earlier this week, New York City constituents got their answer.
On June 17, New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while escorting a man out of immigration court in Manhattan. Lander, who repeatedly asked to see a judicial warrant for the man ICE was attempting to detain, was held in custody for four hours. The federal government is still trying to decide whether it will charge him with a crime.
“We’re not just showing up for just a few families, or for the strength of our democracy,” Lander told the supporters waiting for him outside the federal courthouse. “We are showing up for the future of New York City.”
While it’s unclear that Lander’s arrest will make any difference in his chances to be New York City’s next mayor, one thing is now certain: He is the kind of person the city and Democrats need in the Trump era.
Democrats should be fighting Trump's systematic hate
Lander is now a member of an exclusive group of Democratic politicians who have gotten into legal trouble for combating the Trump administration’s extreme deportation agenda. These politicians are not doing anything wrong – they are simply trying to stand up for the immigrants who make this country great.
The first to face legal repercussions was Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, who was arrested in April and later indicted for allegedly assisting an undocumented immigrant in escaping arrest.
Then in May, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested at an ICE detention center when three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation arrived for an unannounced inspection. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-New Jersey, who was also arrested that day, was indicted on June 10 for allegedly interfering with immigration officers.
Less than a week before Lander’s arrest, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, was handcuffed and thrown out of a Department of Homeland Security news conference.
This defiance is encouraging to see. People who have the privilege of a public platform are putting their careers on the line to stand up for those who are being terrorized by the federal government.
These actions, so long as they are peaceful, are how Democrats should be reacting to the Trump administration.
We need a mayoral candidate who suits New York
Until this moment, Lander had flown under the radar for the duration of the city’s mayoral race. Despite his position as the city’s top financial officer and an endorsement from a panel of experts with The New York Times, Lander has been polling behind front-runner Andrew Cuomo, a former New York governor, and Zohran Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly.
It’s not that Lander is a bad candidate – he’s experienced and policy-driven, and he has a progressive view of what the city can be. He and Mamdani have cross-endorsed each other in the hopes of besting Cuomo in the ranked-choice voting system.
Lander just doesn’t have Cuomo’s name recognition or Mamdani’s charisma.
By getting arrested, Lander has shown New Yorkers that someone is willing to stand up for their values of protecting immigrants.
We don’t have to elect Cuomo, who had to resign in disgrace in 2021 after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment.
Nor do we have to elect incumbent Eric Adams, who has welcomed ICE into our city against the wishes of the voters.
Lander is showing us that we could have someone who is willing to fight the Trump administration while leading the nation’s most populous city. And he's one of several showing Democrats the way forward.
Follow Paste BN columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno