Federal agents briefly detain aide at New York Rep. Jerry Nadler's office during nearby protests against migrant detentions

Yahoo

2 days ago

Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security handcuffed and briefly detained a staff member in New York Rep. Jerry Nadler's Manhattan district office on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the congressman.
Video taken by a person inside Nadler's office, obtained and reported by Gothamist, shows one of his aides being handcuffed by an agent with the Federal Protective Service while another agent tries to access an area inside the office.
In the footage, a second staffer stands in front of the agent and asks if he has a warrant. 'You're harboring rioters in the office,' the federal agent is heard telling her, before walking in. In the background, the handcuffed aide is heard crying while someone tries to comfort her.
The agents allegedly entered Nadler's office because they were told protesters were present and the agents 'were concerned about the safety' of employees in the office, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN in a statement on Saturday.
Activists on Wednesday were protesting outside of Varick Immigration Court — located on a different floor of the same building as Nadler's office — in opposition to the detention of migrants at the courthouse by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Upon the officers' arrival, they identified themselves and said they were conducting a security check when 'one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office,' the statement said.
'The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check. All were released without further incident,' DHS said.
The incident occurred as the Trump administration has taken extraordinary measures to crack down on immigration, aggressively pressuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pick up the pace of migrant arrests and touting mass deportation plans.
Nadler called the incident 'deeply troubling' in a Saturday statement and confirmed Department of Homeland Security officers 'forcefully' entered his office and handcuffed the staff member.
'President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner,' he said, adding the incident showed a 'deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries.'
'If this can happen in a Member of Congress's office, it can happen to anyone – and it is happening,' Nadler said.
'I call on President Trump and DHS to halt the use of these dangerous tactics and to abandon use of the expedited removal process which denies due process to immigrants and citizens alike,' the New York representative said.
Robert Gottheim, Nadler's chief of staff, told the New York Times they reject the Department of Homeland Security's version of events, suggesting the agents appeared angry because members of Nadler's staff witnessed the officers detaining migrants inside the building, and because staffers had invited advocates who saw the detentions to the congressman's office.
'The Trump administration is trying to intimidate members of Congress,' Nadler told the New York Times on Saturday. 'They're behaving like fascists.'
Twenty-three people were taken into custody during Wednesday's protest, according to police, CNN affiliate CBS New York reported. CNN has reached out to the New York Police Department for comment and additional information regarding the arrests.
Protesters told CBS New York they began demonstrating after witnesses reported that several people were taken into custody inside the ICE field office in SoHo.
'I've never seen anything like this. I've been working here for a couple years and I've never seen this many agents, let alone agents dressed in plain clothes, wearing masks, pulling people out of line. It's totally out of the ordinary,' a man named Ben told CBS New York.
Videos taken at the protests showed how tensions escalated when officers and demonstrators clashed over the barricades.
'People say, 'Oh, let them come in legally,' and when they try to come in legally and follow court proceedings they're being kidnapped,' a woman named Mariposa told CBS New York.
The White House is putting intense pressure on law enforcement agencies across the government to meet a goal of one million deportations per year, leading to a surge of agents and officers across the federal government focusing their attention on arrests and deportation efforts.
In New York City, activists have intensified their efforts to protest the rising number of migrant deportations, staging multiple demonstrations in opposition of the administration's controversial moves against immigrants.
One of the latest incidents was the arrest of a 20-year-old New York City public school student named Dylan, a Venezuelan national who was detained by ICE on May 21 after a hearing in federal immigration court regarding his asylum request, CNN affiliate WABC reported.
'Dylan is a 20-year-old student who followed our legal process and is trying to get an education and provide for his family,' New York Attorney General Letitia James said on X. 'ICE took advantage of his court date to arrest him. It's despicable.'
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson released a statement on Wednesday demanding 'accountability' for Dylan and slammed the Trump administration, who she said is unfairly targeting and exploiting immigrant families.
'Dylan did everything right. He enrolled in school in our Borough and got his license to obtain a delivery job to take care of his younger siblings,' Gibson wrote. 'It is outrageous and horrible to learn he was detained by federal authorities last week during a court appearance. This is unacceptable and nothing short of an injustice.'
Advocates report that under the Trump administration, it's becoming more frequent for ICE to detain migrants at their immigration court appearances.
'It's a catch-22. You don't show up for your court hearing then you could also be ordered removed from the country and deported,' Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, told CBS New York.