At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Goldman, who was focused on the detention of citizens — rather than the noncitizens, who remain detained in New Jersey — suggested that the involvement of the NYPD would help prevent federal abuse. “We will continue to call on the NYPD to make sure that they are present for these raids,” he said. “Because it’s the NYPD’s job to protect New Yorkers.”

The Congressman also announced that his office would be starting a “Rapid Response Task Force” to coordinate a response to overreach by federal authorities.

“This is not immigration enforcement,” he said. “This is lawless terror to create a pretext for Donald Trump to send the military into New York City.”