Essex Files: When Elites Think They Can Block ICE With a Shrug and a Slogan

They really do think the rules don’t apply to them.

This week, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander—yes, the same Lander who's eyeing the mayor's office and giving guys named Brad a bad name —decided to play hero outside a federal immigration court. But he wasn’t defending taxpayers or safeguarding public safety. No, he was physically interfering with ICE agents trying to carry out a lawful arrest of an illegal immigrant.

Let that sink in. The same Brad Lander who was arrested for a protest in support of speed cameras (a fun fact: he ended up receiving numerous tickets for speeding in school zones due to those cameras).

A top elected official walked arm-in-arm with a non-citizen whose immigration case had just been dismissed, inserted himself between federal officers and their duty, and then got himself cuffed and arrested when he refused to back down. And now, the entire liberal media-industrial complex is throwing a tantrum, screaming “fascism” and “authoritarianism” while ignoring the elephant in the room:

Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested by ICE at Federal Plaza in NYC https://t.co/edAVGFykKH pic.twitter.com/o8uQxLtOFd
— New York Post (@nypost) June 17, 2025

You don’t get to obstruct federal law just because it makes you feel woke and fuzzy inside.

Democrats have spent years lecturing Americans about the importance of “norms,” “institutions,” and the “rule of law.” But when it comes to immigration enforcement, all of that goes straight out the window. If a Republican mayor tried to block an FBI raid or stop federal agents from detaining someone at a courthouse, they’d be tarred as an insurrectionist and marched straight into MSNBC's permanent villain file.

🚨 #BREAKING: NYC Mayoral Candidate Brad Lander was just ARRESTED by ICE after he began obstructing ICE operations at immigration court

These Democrat acts of obstruction just to score political points MUST END.

MAKE AN EXAMPLE—LOCK HIM UP! pic.twitter.com/JDAcFFTHfK
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 17, 2025

But when a Democrat does it? Suddenly, it’s a civil rights movement.

Lander wasn’t some bystander. He knew exactly what he was doing: grandstanding for headlines, mugging for the cameras, and trying to score points with the open-borders crowd in New York. And when ICE agents didn’t fall for the performance and slapped on the cuffs, he acted shocked—*shocked!*—that consequences exist in the real world.

News Flash: Obstructing a federal officer is a crime. Period.

This photo of Brad Lander getting arrested by ICE is something else pic.twitter.com/r749thivYx
— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) June 17, 2025

But liberals like Lander believe they’re untouchable. They cloak themselves in “compassion,” drape themselves in slogans about “humanity,” and expect immunity from the law because their hearts are in the right place—or so they claim.

This isn’t just about one arrest in Manhattan. It’s about a broader, more troubling trend: the left’s belief that they can rewrite federal policy on the fly, from the streets if necessary. Whether it’s sanctuary cities ignoring federal detainers, DAs refusing to prosecute crime, or mayors pretending they outrank ICE, the message is clear: Democrats think they run the country—laws be damned.

And if you push back? You’re “racist,” “extreme,” or part of some imaginary “fascist” conspiracy.

What’s actually extreme is elected officials turning into human shields for illegal immigrants and trying to shut down federal law enforcement in broad daylight.

The American people have a choice: Either we have a nation of laws, or we have a nation of showboating politicians who believe their political agendas give them the right to override the Constitution.

ICE was doing its job. Lander wasn’t.

If liberals want to change immigration law, they can run for Congress—not run interference at the courthouse.

But until then, no one—not even the Comptroller of New York City—gets to play vigilante in a tailored suit and expect a round of applause for breaking the law. You break the law, you go to jail, pure and simple

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