Mayor Adams shows little sympathy for Comptroller Lander after ICE arrested him

Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday offered few condolences to city Comptroller Brad Lander following his arrest Tuesday at the hands of federal immigration authorities, instead comparing the episode to his now-dismissed federal corruption case.

During a June 18 interview on the Reset Talk Show, Adams declined to join other Democrats in bashing ICE’s actions against Lander and immigrants, instead seeking to rebuff criticisms that he has mostly stood silent during a dramatic escalation in Trump’s mass deportation effort.

Adams told the host, JR Gittens, he does not need to be arrested to show he is standing up for immigrants because, in his view, he was already hit with federal charges for doing exactly that.

“If people are saying, ‘Eric, go get arrested like Brad Lander,’ to show your outrage, I was arrested when I stood up and fought for migrants and asylum seekers,” Adams said, repeating his unfounded claim that federal prosecutors went after him for publicly criticizing former President Biden’s immigration policies.

City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested and accosted by masked federal agents at immigration court in Lower Manhattan.Photo by Dean Moses

Several mayoral candidates came to Lander’s defense on Tuesday by releasing forceful statements framing his arrest as part of an authoritarian “abuse of power,” but Adams instead appeared to place the blame on the comptroller.

“I think it was more politics instead of protecting people,” he said Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate that he took that action, because that is not the role of the elected official, what he did today.”

amNewYork reached out to Lander for comment and is awaiting a response.

Two different arrests

Lander was detained on June 17 federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents inside 26 Federal Plaza, a Lower Manhattan building that houses immigration courts. He was later released without charges early Tuesday evening after Gov. Kathy Hochul personally intervened and spoke to a crowd of hundreds who gathered in Foley Square to protest his arrest.

The city’s top money man, who is running in the Democratic primary for mayor, was arrested while escorting an immigrant named Edgardo out of court after his case was dismissed in order to avoid him being detained by ICE agents waiting in the hallway.

Nonetheless, the agents grabbed Edgardo, prompting Lander to demand they show a warrant. Shortly after that point they threw Lander against a wall and placed him in handcuffs. The incident, which was caught on video by amNewYork and other outlets, drove Tuesday’s news cycle, quickly becoming an international story, and drew sharp condemnations from a slew of local Democrats — including many of Lander’s rivals.

Mayor Eric Adams surrendered at federal court on Sept. 27, 2024.Photo by Dean Moses

Last year, Mayor Adams was indicted on federal charges which alleged that he accepted lavish travel benefits and illegal campaign donations from Turkish naationals in exchange for official favors — a case the feds had opened in 2021, before migrants started flowing to the city in droves.

The case, however, was dismissed earlier this year after prosecutors, at the Trump Justice Department’s direction, moved to drop it because they felt it would interfere with Adams’ cooperation with the new regime’s immigration crackdown. That led to accusations of an alleged quid pro quo between Adams and Trump, which the mayor has repeatedly denied under oath.

Still, Adams maintained that he believes he was prosecuted in the first place because he was critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant crisis between 2022-24.

“That’s why they came at me in the first place,” Adams said on the Reset Talk Show. “I know what it is to be arrested for standing up and fighting on behalf of migrant asylum seekers. Trust me, every time I look at the $3 million legal fee that I have, I know what it is to get arrested by federal authorities because you’re fighting to say it’s wrong what you were doing to migrants and asylum seekers. So they just joining the club. They’re late to the dance. I was already dancing.”

Hizzoner was referring to the millions of dollars in legal fees he racked up paying celebrity attorney Alex Spiro to defend him in the federal case.

The mayor also contended that Lander was “pretty harmful to me” when he was facing federal charges. He said he would not treat the comptroller the same way and will “let the process take its course.”

While the two top city officials have had a contentious relationship for much of the past three years, Adams’ comments on Wednesday showed just how much it has deteriorated. His remarks also speak to his continued reluctance to criticize Trump, especially on immigration policy.