Federal law enforcement agents with the Department of Homeland Security handcuffed and detained New York City mayoral candidate and current comptroller Brad Lander on Tuesday after he accompanied an individual to an immigration court hearing. Video footage shows Lander demanding to see a judicial warrant before being pushed against a wall, arrested, and accused of assaulting officers - a claim he vehemently denies. This alarming incident represents a deeply concerning escalation of aggressive overreach by federal authorities against U.S. citizens exercising their fundamental rights. The arbitrary detention of an elected official simply for being present and asking for due process is an unacceptable violation of civil liberties. It exemplifies the unchecked power of agencies like ICE to act as unaccountable secret police forces, trampling on constitutional protections without proper judicial oversight. We cannot allow such erosion of human rights and democratic norms to continue unchallenged. ICE must be reined in and restructured to operate within the bounds of the law, with stringent warrant requirements and far greater transparency. The harrowing events in New York underscore the urgent need for systemic reforms to safeguard the rights and freedoms of all people in this country against outrageous government overreach.
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