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Rep. Jerrold Nadler criticized Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after officers detained a crying staff member in Nadler’s district office.
While protesters gathered outside an immigration courthouse, DHS officers attempted to enter Nadler’s Manhattan office in the same building and accused his staff of “harboring rioters.”
The incident, first reported by Gothamist, was captured on camera. In the video, which the outlet said was recorded by a person who was monitoring activity in immigration court, DHS is seen handcuffing an unidentified staff member.
“No she did not. That is not what happened,” another staff member said off camera.
“She pushed him back,” an unidentified officer responded.
“I’m a federal officer,” a DHS official said to a staff member who was stopping him from entering a private section of the office and asking if they had a search warrant. The officer said no, they did not have a warrant, but the staff member eventually allowed him to enter the area.
Nadler blasted Trump and DHS for “aggressive and heavy-handed tactics” used in this incident and to detain others across the country.
“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. In the most recent and deeply troubling incident, DHS agents forcefully entered my Congressional office and handcuffed a member of my staff,” Nadler said in a statement released Saturday.
Nadler said the officers actions demonstrate “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,” the New York congressman said, calling on DHS and Trump to “halt the use of these dangerous tactics.”
Nadler also criticized the administration’s “use of the expedited removal process which denies due process to immigrants and citizens alike.”
The detained staff member was ultimately not arrested, nor was she charged with a crime. She told Gothamist that “everything resolved” but did not comment further.
