Brad Lander is used to getting arrested. In 2015, Lander was detained during a protest in support of striking car wash workers. Two years later, Lander participated in an act of civil disobedience supporting the raise of the minimum wage in New York.

Brad Lander, NYC comptroller and candidate for mayor, returned to observe federal immigration court just days after his ICE arrest​.

Brad Lander was escorting a defendant out of immigration court in Manhattan when he was "taken by masked agents and detained by ICE," his campaign spokesperson said.