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Dan Goldman Confronts DHS Gestapo at the Courthouse [1]

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Date: 2025-06-03

A good bit of news popped into my inbox this morning about my Congressman Dan Goldman. He has been outspoken calling DHS agents out for “Gestapo like” behavior. As a former prosecutor he also knows the law. A recent incident where once again DHS got cases dismissed, removing legal protections for asylum seekers so they could be seized in the courthouse, got his attention since he was in the building.

Here’s what ensued (thank you to our local paper The Broadsheet):

“Today, I confronted masked ICE officers after they detained multiple immigrants in the lobby of the federal building that also contains my Manhattan district office,”Mr. Goldman said in a hastily called press conference in front of 290 Broadway, a few minutes later. “These officers were carrying printed-out papers with immigrants’ names and faces, wearing masks, and attempting to intimidate reporters on site – all while avoiding questions I asked them as a duly elected member of Congress carrying out my oversight responsibilities, as a member of the Homeland Security Committee.” (The Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, oversees ICE.) “This is Gestapo-like behavior,” Mr. Goldman said. “Plain-clothed officers, wearing masks, are terrorizing immigrants who are doing the right thing by going to court, following up on their immigration proceedings, and trying to come into this country lawfully, through asylum. DHS is exploiting a procedural technicality to fast-track deportations.” Before Mr. Goldman was elected to Congress, he recalled, “I was a federal prosecutor for ten years. I worked with DHS. I worked with ICE agents. I have never seen any plainclothes officer wearing a mask. And, when I asked them, ‘Why are you wearing a mask?’ one person told me, ‘because it’s cold.’ I asked him if he would testify to that under oath. He walked away and wouldn’t respond to me. Another person admitted that they were wearing masks so that they are not caught on video.” He continued, “my question to them is: ‘if what you are doing is legitimate, is lawful, is totally above board, why do you need to cover your face?’ Law enforcement officers do not cover their faces. And in fact, the Trump administration is cracking down on universities for allowing protesters to wear masks. So, apparently, it is not okay to wear a mask if you are protesting the government, but it is okay if you are the government.” “Ultimately, what this comes down to is not anything having to do with the border,” he argued. “It has nothing having to do with our immigration system. It is simply an effort by the Trump administration to remove as many foreigners as possible rom this country, so that they can return to the 1950s, under this Great Replacement Theory, and go back to a world of white supremacism that does not include immigrants trying to come to this country to seek a better life.”

This is how you stand up for the rights of all people. A “supervisor” was also trying to order reporters not to videotape the arrests which happened in the public lobby. Mr. Goldman rightly points out you are allowed to take video in that space and it is not illegal unlike what the supervising thug was telling people.

Coincidentally, I wrote the congressman an email the other day (not knowing of this incident) asking why government agents were masked and that he should introduce a bill making it illegal if it wasn’t. Also the same bill should make it illegal to look at an American’s phone at the border without a warrant. These are basic protections and completely non-political.

The Broadsheet is a daily newsletter here in Lower Manhattan NYC and they do eventually post stories on their website. It’s not up there yet so will add here when it does.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/3/2325728/-Dan-Goldman-Confronts-DHS-Gestapo-at-the-Courthouse?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

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