The arrest of New York City Comptroller and erstwhile Democratic mayoral hopeful Brad Lander by federal officers at an immigration court, precipitated by his act of civil disobedience in physically interposing himself between authorities and a detainee whose judicial warrant he vociferously demanded, has ignited a firestorm of controversy, particularly given the backdrop of escalating nationwide immigration enforcement actions near judicial venues, with fellow Democratic contenders and political figures decrying what they characterise as an overreach of federal power in the face of Lander's avowed nonviolent protest against the Trumpian legacy on immigration.