A Brooklyn council member was among 18 arrested during a protest against the detention of an immigration rights activist Thursday.

Council member Jumaane D. Williams, who represents Brooklyn's 45th District, and council member Ydanis Rodríguez, who represents Washington Heights, were both arrested in Manhattan while protesting the arrest of Ravi Ragbir, am New York reports.

Ragbir was arrested by ICE agents during a routine check-in.

Williams and Rodriguez say they were among more than a dozen people arrested during the protest outside 26 Federal Plaza.

The arrests did not damper the spirits of immigration supporters as they continued to rally for Ragbir's release.

Ragbir is the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City. He has been a longtime permanent resident but had been living with the threat of deportation as a result of a conviction for wire fraud.