New York Rep. Nadler staffer 'traumatized' after DHS cuffs her in NYC congressional office
Published in News & Features
A social worker for U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., is still “traumatized” after a Department of Homeland Security officer handcuffed and detained her inside the congressman’s lower Manhattan office, an official in Nadler’s office said Sunday.
The caught-on-video Wednesday clash drew outrage from Nadler. “If this can happen in a member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone — and it is happening,” he said in a statement.
The incident sparked off as federal agents were arresting several immigrants in a Manhattan immigration court building on Varick Street in the West Village. Nadler’s office is on the sixth floor of the building.
A video posted by Gothamist Friday shows a Department of Homeland Security officer with the agency’s Federal Protective Service cuffing the woman as she weeps in a hallway. “Do not resist! Stop resisting!” a male voice can be heard off-screen as someone else says, “She’s not resisting.”
Another officer, described by Nadler’s co-chief of staff as a DHS commander, confronts a second staffer at the door to the congressman’s office, demanding entry. “I’m a federal officer. I’m checking on something. We have the right to check,” he tells her.
He says doesn’t need a warrant to come inside when she objects. “You’re harboring rioters in the office so if there’s not a problem let’s walk inside,” he tells the staffer at the door before she steps aside.
There were no known reports of rioting at the Varick Street building at the time. Several protesters were pepper-sprayed and arrested hours later that evening.
“She’s traumatized. It’s a young woman that was handcuffed and detained. There was no right to come into our office, and DHS’s statement is a total fabrication and lie,” said Robert Gottheim, Nadler’s co-chief of staff, referring to a DHS statement to news outlets that they went there “to conduct a security check.”
“DHS’s statement that they were coming in for a safety check doesn’t mesh with the video,” Gottheim said.
The cuffed staffer was detained for about 40 minutes before she was released without charges.
The arrests come amid a chaotic week at immigration courts in New York City and across the country, as the Trump administration tests a new legal strategy to aid its mass deportation efforts. Government attorneys are dismissing immigration court cases, giving federal agents a free hand to then arrest immigrants as they leave a courtroom, federal officials told the Associated Press.
Those arrested included a 20-year-old Bronx public school student whose asylum case was dismissed Wednesday.
Gottheim said that Nadler’s staff caught wind of what was happening in the courtroom and invited advocates into the congressional office, drawing the attention of DHS officers.
“It’s strong-armed thuggish tactics. They had no right to come into our office. We are not an executive branch agency,” he said. “Obviously they are upset that we are working with these people (the advocates)…. They are upset that we were interacting with these individuals”
Gottheim said Nadler called the DHS commander directly to “deescalate” the situation.
A DHS spokesman didn’t return a message seeking comment Sunday.
“From the outset, my number one concern was for the safety of my staff. While no arrests were made and the situation was quickly deescalated, I am alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics DHS is employing,” Nadler said in his statement. “The decision to enter a Congressional office and detain a staff member demonstrates a deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries.”
“I call on President Trump and DHS to halt the use of these dangerous tactics and to abandon use of the expedited removal process which denies due process to immigrants and citizens alike,” he added.
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