Mamdani said his city is "not embarrassed of the fact that we are a sanctuary city. We are proud of that fact."
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has restated his old demands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished, claiming that the agency is "cruel," and saying that he is "proud" that the city is a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.
In an interview with MS NOW, Mamdani said his city is "not embarrassed of the fact that we are a sanctuary city. We are proud of that fact, and I've spoken to the President directly, as well as said so in public, that I believe that ICE is a cruel agency that does nothing to further the interests of public safety."
"It's why I agree with Darializa Avila Chevalier in that we have to abolish ICE, and what we need to do is create an immigration system that has humanity back at the heart of it," he added.
Mamdani has been clear in his lack of support for ICE in both his personal comments and his endorsements. The high-profile Democratic primary race for New York's 13th District is between Mamdani-endorsed socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier and five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
Chevalier, who has positioned herself to the left of her Democratic opponent, reflects Mamdani’s anti-ICE sentiments, with her campaign website citing abolishing ICE as a top legislative priority for the congressional hopeful. She is also opposed to deportations regardless of criminal level and believes that “all deportations are wrong,” per an interview with Vox.
Mamdani was pressed on this statement by a reporter while at a 32BJ union event. “Do you agree with the comments of your endorsed candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier opposing deportations regardless of criminal record?” the reporter asked.
“I've been clear that I’m proud of our sanctuary city status,” the mayor responded. “It is a status that we have had in the city for decades. It is also the status that, where there is a conviction of more than 170 serious crimes, does allow for coordination with the federal government on that.”
He continued, “However, beyond that, it is something we have made clear: we are not going to allow the city to be the civil immigration arm of the federal government.”
Mamdani said on the Latino USA podcast on Friday, “As their mayor, I firmly believe that ICE should be abolished. That we should have an answer to the question of immigration with humanity at the heart of it. I will not sit here alongside you and proclaim the only way to respond to [immigration] is an agency that I’m older than.”
New York City has acted as a sanctuary city since 1989, enacting policies that shield its illegal immigrant population from federal immigration agencies. The mayor doubled down on his promise not to work with the Trump administration on immigration policy and recommitted the city to its history of sanctuary city policies.
“We will continue to make clear that our city is not going to assist ICE in civil immigration and to make the argument that it is time for some moral courage when it comes to what the future of this agency looks like,” Mamdani said, “especially as we start to have more conversations about what a vision for our country looks like, especially within the Democratic Party."
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