Mamdani vows NYPD will not help ICE with immigration enforcement

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he will not allow the city to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts targeting illegal immigrants.

Mamdani made the remarks on Friday while attending the annual Somos conference in Puerto Rico, responding to President Donald Trump’s continued plans to carry out large-scale deportation operations. Mamdani said that in response, he would “stand up for New Yorkers.”

“My NYPD will continue to not be of assistance to ICE whenever they are trying to terrorize New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” Mamdani told NY1.

“I think that it's important to continue a separation between NYPD and ICE, and I think it’s important to bring an end to a chapter which Eric Adams said on national TV, where he opened the door to civil immigration enforcement,” he added.

Under Mayor Eric Adams, the city had strengthened its relationship with the federal government, allowing ICE officers to conduct certain operations within city limits. Mamdani, however, campaigned on opposing ICE and immigration enforcement, promising to make New York the strongest sanctuary city in the country by restricting cooperation between local authorities and federal agents.

Mamdani has previously accused ICE of being a “rogue agency, one that has no interest in laws, no interest in order.”

Ahead of the mayoral election, President Trump warned that New York City could lose federal funding if Mamdani were elected. On November 3, Trump wrote on Truth Social that if Mamdani won, “it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home."