New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, said during an appearance on MSNBC’s The Weekend that he intends to expand sanctuary policies and dedicate more public funds to assist illegal immigrants if elected.
Mamdani pointed to what he described as an urgent crisis. “400,000 of our residents are right now in urgent risk of deportation,” he said, adding that city legal assistance has been far too limited. “The city knows that when it provides legal assistance to those same New Yorkers, their chances of going home increase 11-fold, and yet it has only assisted fewer than 200 of those New Yorkers,” Mamdani continued.
“That’s why also a cornerstone of our campaign is a commitment to increase funding for those very legal defense services by more than $100 million so we can ensure we’re taking every step we can to keep New Yorkers safe, to keep New Yorkers together, and to show the world that they are welcome in this city.”
“Our campaign is one that stands by the actual enforcement of the law as it is here in New York City, with sanctuary city policies that have kept us safe,” Mamdani said — a claim strongly disputed by the Trump administration.
The democratic socialist candidate also pledged to boost city staffing levels. “I would also commit to increasing the staffing of our law department by 200 to bring us back to pre-COVID levels, and to ensure that when we look at this city we are using every tool at our disposal to keep New Yorkers together, to keep families together,” he said.
Townhall reports that former ICE Director and current border czar Tom Homan issued a warning to Mamdani, saying that his policies must not obstruct federal immigration enforcement. “We know [New York is] releasing public safety threats and national security threats to the streets every day because they don’t honor our detainers,” Homan said. “We’re going to get the bad guys, so if they don’t want to help, get out the way. We’re coming to do it.”
Earlier this summer, President Donald Trump said he would keep a close eye on Mamdani if he wins office. “We don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation,” Trump told reporters.
