Governor Hochul Condemns Arrest of Brad Lander

Earlier today, Governor Hochul spoke at a press conference following the release of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander following his arrest earlier this afternoon. The Governor also highlighted the state’s investment of $50 million dollars to support immigrant legal services.

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon — this is a sorry day for New York. This is a sorry—excuse me, we need to deal with this — excuse me — please everyone, we need to deal with this situation.

This is a sorry day for New York and our country. I was literally walking the streets of Little Haiti, to try and bring some comfort to a community that's under siege with a travel ban and losing their legal status. The streets were empty, people were scared, businesses are concerned about their future, and that's when I got word of what happened to my colleague in government, our comptroller Brad Lander.

The video is shocking — I knew I needed to come down here immediately and check on his whereabouts, and do what I could to intervene. I'll let Brad speak about his experience, but to my knowledge the charges — there are no charges, the charges have been dropped. He walks out of there a free man. While that is a positive outcome in a very high profile case. We're also concerned about those — that are walking out this courthouse, taken away from their families.

They don't have the attention, they don’t have the lawyers and that's why the State of New York is providing fifty-million dollars to cover legal services for people who are finding themselves in this situation. We continue to do what we can to support the communities and the immigration coalitions and thank them for their work they're doing at this time.

It's hard to see these people, to know their stories, to hug them, to know they've been separated from loved ones. I just want to say — we're a better country than this. We are a far better country than what we’re experiencing.

This is New York–this is New York! The land of immigrants, we're proud of them. As I stood in the hallway upstairs from the ninth door waiting to know the whereabouts of my friend, almost everyone I spoke to who worked there, in security and otherwise — they came from other countries. They are immigrants themselves, don't forget that — don’t forget that. Ladies and gentleman, I present our Comptroller Brad Lander.