Democrats and Republicans are having very different reactions when it comes to the arrest of a New York City mayoral candidate, with the former calling it out as an injustice and the latter arguing it's all political theater.

Brad Lander’s arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, which came while he was trying to usher an immigrant out of court, came shortly after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was forcibly removed from a press conference and a number of lawmakers in New Jersey got into a skirmish outside an ICE jail in Newark.

The confrontations with law enforcement have drawn outrage from Democrats, who say it’s a sign of the Trump administration’s authoritarian bent, while Republicans have accused the lawmakers of showmanship.

“Polarization has progressed to the point that it's almost like Democrats and Republicans see two different realities, and those realities are so different that they are either unwilling or, maybe even more concerning, unable to talk to each other about the current state of affairs because they just see things so different,” said Mark Brewer, a professor of political science at the University of Maine. “And if that's true, then that's a real problem.”

The incident surrounding Lander has thrust the issue of the Trump administration’s handling of immigration and Democrats’ response back into the national spotlight, but it’s just the latest in a string of other similar clashes.

The first happened just over a month ago in Newark when Mayor Ras Baraka was detained as he and three New Jersey Democratic lawmakers sought to visit the Delaney Hall detention center. While the lawmakers have the congressional authority to inspect ICE facilities, Baraka doesn’t and complied when told to leave.

But he was handcuffed and charged with a misdemeanor count of trespassing.

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