NEW YORK (WPIX) — NYPD officers arrested New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams outside of 26 Federal Plaza on Thursday afternoon.
Williams and other elected officials, including Comptroller Brad Lander and Senator Julia Salazar, were allegedly trying to gain access to the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, where they say ICE has inhumanely and illegally detained thousands of immigrant New Yorkers.
The Office of the Public Advocate released a statement following the arrest:
“This afternoon, I faced arrest alongside dozens of New Yorkers in a nonviolent civil disobedience to demand oversight of ICE’s inhumane detention practices. Even under this creeping authoritarianism regime, I expect to be released today to go home to my family, but the people we’re fighting for don’t have that privilege, as ICE disappears, and deports them.
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“Together with the dozens of New Yorkers getting arrested today, I call for all levels of government to do what they can to support our immigrant communities and vulnerable, marginalized populations. That means passing legislation strengthening protections on the state and local level, and rejecting any coordination with or concession to Donald Trump and his paramilitary forces in our city.
“We can never allow this to become normal, we can never allow ourselves to look away from the horror being inflicted on our neighbors, and we have to use every tool available to fight it – including our own bodies, privilege, and freedom.”
Other elected officials arrested on Thursday include Comptroller Lander, Senators Julia Salazar, Jabari Brisport, and Gustavo Rivera, Assemblymembers Robert Carroll, Emily Gallagher, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Marcela Mitaynes, Claire Valdez, Tony Simone, and Steven Raga.
In August, a U.S. District Judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining migrants at 26 Federal Plaza.
Williams was previously arrested in 2018 at a rally for an immigration rights activist who was detained by ICE.
