Newark mayor’s arrest at an immigration detention center

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by federal agents at an immigration court Tuesday after he linked arms with a person that authorities were attempting to detain.

A reporter with The Associated Press witnessed Lander’s arrest at a federal building in Manhattan. The person Lander was walking out of the courtroom was also arrested.

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Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter that he was there to “accompany” some immigrants out of the building.

In the moments before Lander was handcuffed, agents could be seen trying to physically separate Lander from the man they had come to detain. Lander briefly struggled to stay close to the detainee before he was pulled away. Video taken by journalists at the scene shows that agents struggled to separate Lander from the man he’d linked arms with for more than 40 seconds before wresting the two apart.

A video of the arrest captured by an AP reporter shows an agent telling Lander, “You’re obstructing.”

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An immigration detention center in New Jersey is at the center of tensions between three congressional Democrats and the Trump administration after  set off a scrum outside the complex.

Federal prosecutors charged Newark Mayor Ras Baraka with trespassing after agents arrested him outside the fence of the on Friday. The interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey says Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor, ignored warnings to leave while he was there with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation at the 1,000-bed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

The arrest escalated into a brief but tense confrontation in the parking lot that included the members of Congress and federal agents, some of whom wore masks. Department of Homeland spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin has accused Baraka of playing “political games” and said over the weekend that an investigation is ongoing and that more actions could be taken.