DHS Arrests 11 New York Elected Officials

The Department of Homeland Security is not playing any games!

On Thursday, DHS officers arrested 11 New York City elected officials after they were protesting inside of a New York City immigration holding facility.

The most notable New York officials arrested were Comptroller Brad Lander and state Senators Jabari Brisport, Gustavo Rivera, and Julia Salazar.

The City reported which elected officials were arrested:

Department of Homeland Security police officers arrested 11 local elected officials inside Lower Manhattan’s federal building after they had demanded access to immigration enforcement’s shadowy holding area on the building’s 10th floor.

The arrests at 26 Federal Plaza happened after an hour-long standoff, with the lawmakers refusing to leave the hallway outside the lockup, banging on the locked doors, and eventually sitting down to chant and sing before they were hauled off in zip ties. All 11 have been released.

Those arrested were city Comptroller Brad Lander along with state Senators Jabari Brisport, Gustavo Rivera and Julia Salazar and Assemblymembers Robert Carroll, Emily Gallagher, Jessica Gonzalez Rojas, Marcela Mitaynes, Steve Raga, Tony Simone and Claire Valdez.

“I’m here for my neighbor Dino,” Gonzalez Rojas said in tears, pointing to the recent arrest of a beloved restaurant worker from The Queensboro restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens.

“I’m brokenhearted,” she said. “This is just one of the many stories in my community.”

Mitaynes, who represents Sunset Park in Brooklyn, spoke in Spanish.

Take a look:

MASS ARRESTS of protesters who tried interfering and blocking ICE vehicles in NYC.

ELEVEN NY city and state elected officials were also arrested by DHS after a protest at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City, where NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and other politicians, along with… pic.twitter.com/5E4eVwW8C6

— 南洋辉叔 Uncle Hui (@alexcmhwee) September 18, 2025

Fifteen Democratic New York elected officials were arrested at a federal building in Manhattan while seeking access to an ICE holding facility — the latest clash between Democratic officials and immigration authorities.https://t.co/OivmEotnT5

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 19, 2025

Fox 10 TV had more details on the arrests:

More than a dozen elected officials were arrested Thursday while protesting conditions at a New York City immigration holding facility where a federal judge this week extended a court order requiring the government to shape up its treatment of detainees.

Eleven officials were arrested while attempting to inspect holding rooms on the 10th floor of the government’s 26 Federal Plaza building in Manhattan, according to a coalition of politicians, advocates and faith leaders involved in the protest.

The officials, including city Comptroller Brad Lander and members of the state legislature, were seeking to ensure compliance with a preliminary injunction issued Wednesday that requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to eliminate squalid conditions and overcrowding.

Lander was previously arrested at the building after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain. He was released hours later.

Other officials were arrested outside the building, including city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a spokesperson for the protesters said. In all, more than 75 people were detained.