City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Tuesday urged migrants to skip out on their immigration court cases and go into hiding to avoid being \u201cabducted\u201d by federal agents.<\/p>\n
Lander \u2014 a Democrat who was busted by the feds last month for interfering with a migrant\u2019s arrest \u2014 and fellow Dem Williams called the Big Apple\u2019s immigration courtrooms an \u201cabduction trap.\u201d<\/p>\n
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams are urging migrants to dodge their immigration court hearings. AP<\/p>\n
Federal immigration agents swarm outside immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits building in Manhattan. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThese buildings have essentially ceased to be courthouses,\u201d Lander told reporters of the Manhattan federal offices. \u201cThey are not places where judges are having hearings that are a meaningful part of the rule of law. These buildings are essentially abduction traps.<\/p>\n
\u201cIrrespective of what is going on inside the courtroom, people are on a list, and as they leave the courtroom, they are abducted by masked federal agents, he said. \u201cMany of them not wearing uniforms or badges. With what\u2019s, let\u2019s be clear, no legal basis for the abduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have stepped up efforts to reel in illegal immigrants in keeping with President Trump\u2019s campaign promise, including in sanctuary cities such as New York.<\/p>\n
ICE agents have popped up at Manhattan immigration hearings to round up the migrants.<\/p>\n
Masked federal agents arrest a man outside a Manhattan immigration court hearing for deportation proceedings. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Williams slammed Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday for standing aside during ICE raids. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n
The raids and others across the country have sparked widespread unrest, including massive demonstrations in Los Angeles<\/a> that led to riots and prompted Trump to send in National Guard troops.<\/p>\n