New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered a fiery speech condemning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a “rogue agency,” accusing its federal immigration raids — especially after deadly incidents like the killing of Renée Good — of cruelty and constitutional violations. He signed an executive order aimed at strengthening the city’s sanctuary policies by restricting ICE access to city property without a judicial warrant and reaffirming protections for residents regardless of immigration status.
Mamdani said the administration’s enforcement actions have terrorized communities and stressed compassion for immigrants, framing his order as necessary to uphold safety and civil rights in New York. Critics argue the move is largely symbolic, given existing sanctuary laws.
#ZohranMamdani #NYC #ICE #SanctuaryCity #Immigration #ExecutiveOrder #RenéeGood #ImmigrantRights #HomelandSecurity #WarrantRequirement #FederalEnforcement #TrumpAdministration #CivilRights #SanctuaryPolicy #ImmigrationDebate #NewYork #BreakingNews #PoliticalSpeech #HumanitarianMessage #Jeffries #DeBlasioSuccessor #CityProtection #ImmigrantCommunities
~PR.152~HT.408~ED.102~
Mamdani said the administration’s enforcement actions have terrorized communities and stressed compassion for immigrants, framing his order as necessary to uphold safety and civil rights in New York. Critics argue the move is largely symbolic, given existing sanctuary laws.
#ZohranMamdani #NYC #ICE #SanctuaryCity #Immigration #ExecutiveOrder #RenéeGood #ImmigrantRights #HomelandSecurity #WarrantRequirement #FederalEnforcement #TrumpAdministration #CivilRights #SanctuaryPolicy #ImmigrationDebate #NewYork #BreakingNews #PoliticalSpeech #HumanitarianMessage #Jeffries #DeBlasioSuccessor #CityProtection #ImmigrantCommunities
~PR.152~HT.408~ED.102~
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NewsTranscript
00:00If faith offers us the moral compass to stand alongside the stranger,
00:04government can provide the resources.
00:07Let us create a new expectation of City Hall,
00:10where power is wielded to love, to embrace, and to protect.
00:15We will stand with the stranger today, tomorrow,
00:18and all the days that are still to come.
00:21Right here in this moment, I shall sign an executive order
00:24that will uphold our city's protection
00:26not just of our fellow immigrant New Yorkers,
00:28but of all New Yorkers, from abusive immigration enforcement.
00:32This order is a sweeping reaffirmation of our commitment
00:36to our immigrant neighbors and to public safety as a whole.
00:39We will make it clear once again that ICE will not be able
00:42to enter New York City property without a judicial warrant.
00:45That means our schools, our shelters, and our hospitals.
00:51That means we will protect New Yorkers' private data
00:54from being unlawfully accessed by the federal government
00:57and stand firmly.
00:59This order mandates that essential city agencies
01:02are complying with city laws
01:04and directs them to conduct thorough audits
01:07of all policies guiding agency interactions
01:10with immigration authorities.
01:12And it will establish an inter-agency response committee
01:16so that in the event of a major crisis,
01:19we are ready and equipped to do the job
01:22of protecting New Yorkers.
01:23Good morning, everyone.
01:25Good morning.
01:25What a privilege it is to be here with you all.
01:36Before I begin, I want to first acknowledge
01:38a few who are here with us today
01:42amongst so many leaders across this city.
01:45Our deputy mayor, Helen Arteaga,
01:48of Health and Human Services.
01:49My chief of staff, L. Bisgard Church.
01:58Chief counsel to the mayor, Ramzi Qasim.
02:02Our chief administrative and financial officer, Mir Bashar.
02:06Our director of intergovernmental affairs, Jamila Edwards.
02:09And we have with us as well a few elected officials current and past
02:17in our Burnt president, Brad Hoylman-Siegel,
02:21welcoming here to the borough of Manhattan.
02:24Our city council member, Virginia Maloney,
02:26welcoming us to her district.
02:29We also have city council member, Shahana Hanif,
02:32who is here with us.
02:33We have assembly member, Tony Simone,
02:38welcoming us to his district.
02:41Assembly member, Alex Boris, as well,
02:43who is here with us today.
02:45We have our former controller, Brad Lander,
02:48who is also here with us today.
02:53And we have a thanks to give to Dr. Anthony Marks
02:57and the New York Public Library
02:58for hosting us here today.
03:00Now, I join everyone present
03:05in sending our best wishes to Rabbi Schneier
03:08and our hopes for a quick recovery.
03:11And I know that many in this room
03:12are shocked by the news
03:14that we've just heard from Pakistan,
03:16where dozens of people were killed
03:18in a horrific attack on a Shia mosque.
03:21Inna Allahi wa inna ilahi rajiun.
03:24I look around this room
03:25and I see the faces of friends
03:27I have marched with through searing heat
03:29and bracing cold.
03:31People I have mourned alongside,
03:33celebrated alongside,
03:34organized alongside.
03:36And I see so many others
03:37I have only just met,
03:39but whom I am eager to work alongside
03:41to improve this incredible city
03:44that we all call home.
03:45And I see those
03:46whom the people of this city
03:48turn to for guidance
03:49and for grace.
03:51Because while this city
03:52may have only one mayor,
03:54it has countless leaders.
03:55When our neighbors seek to make sense
03:58of a world where sense
03:59is not there to be found,
04:01they often turn first,
04:03not to those that they elected,
04:05but to you.
04:06I thank you for welcoming me today
04:09and for all that you do
04:11in ways seen and unseen
04:13for those you serve.
04:15I was raised in New York City
04:17as a Muslim kid
04:18with a Hindu mother.
04:19I celebrated Eid al-Futr
04:21and Eid al-Adha
04:21with my family,
04:23lit diyas in Riverside Park
04:24for Diwali,
04:26and like any New Yorker,
04:27encountered faiths
04:28different from my own.
04:29I still remember
04:30coming home
04:31from a friend's bar mitzvah
04:32at Anjay Hesed
04:33and demanding an explanation
04:35from my father.
04:37Baba, I asked,
04:38why don't Muslim kids
04:39have bar mitzvahs too?
04:40I have still yet to receive
04:43a satisfactory answer.
04:46Over the past 15 months
04:48as I ran to become mayor,
04:50become mayor of our incredible city,
04:52that encounter only deepened
04:54as I came face to face
04:56with the living tapestry of faith
04:58that is New York.
05:00Faith, we are told,
05:01is the belief in things unseen.
05:04And while it certainly took faith
05:05to imagine a thing truly unseen,
05:07a path to victory,
05:08it was nothing.
05:13It was nothing compared
05:16to the faith I saw New Yorkers summon
05:18just to make it through the day.
05:20Faith that the bus would arrive.
05:24Faith that somehow, some way,
05:25the rent would get paid.
05:28Faith that a leader
05:28would place the concerns of the many
05:30before the interests of the few.
05:34I saw that faith everywhere,
05:36on subways and street corners,
05:38at forums and front doors.
05:40And increasingly,
05:41as the winter snow melted
05:43into the renewal of spring
05:44and then the heat of summer,
05:46I found it where many New Yorkers return,
05:48week after week,
05:50in search of meaning.
05:52You welcomed a stranger
05:54into your sanctuaries.
05:56And whether we were together
05:57at shul,
05:58at church services
05:59on a Saturday or Sunday morning,
06:01at a gurdwara or a mosque
06:03or a mandir or a temple,
06:04New Yorkers told me
06:05of the worries they hold close.
06:07The dreams that they refuse
06:09to let go.
06:11What a gift they gave me.
06:13Not just understanding
06:15our city better,
06:16but understanding
06:17how close we truly are.
06:19Because for all of our
06:20different faiths,
06:22we share a common belief
06:23that our city can be restored
06:26and that it must.
06:28That the wealthiest city
06:29and the wealthiest country
06:30in the history of the world
06:31has enough for everyone
06:33to live a life of dignity.
06:42That we need not worship
06:44the same God
06:45to share the same values
06:46or to fight for the same future.
06:49If anything unifies
06:50every religion across our city,
06:52it is an understanding of faith
06:54not solely as a tool
06:55for reflection,
06:57but as a call to action.
07:02Standing before you today,
07:03I think of Deuteronomy 10, 17 to 18,
07:06which describes the Lord
07:08as one who shows no partiality
07:11and accepts no bribes.
07:12He defends the cause
07:13of the orphan and the widow
07:14and loves the stranger
07:16residing among you,
07:17giving them food and clothing.
07:20Over the past 15 months,
07:21New Yorkers of all faiths
07:23built a movement inspired
07:24by that cause of the orphan,
07:26the widow, and the stranger.
07:28Seniors spent hours
07:30making phone calls to strangers
07:31because they believed
07:32every child deserves childcare.
07:35If that is not defending
07:36the cause of the orphan,
07:38what is?
07:39Neighbors climbed six-floor walk-ups
07:41to knock doors
07:41because they believed
07:42a single mother
07:43in a rent-stabilized apartment
07:44should be able to sleep easily
07:46on the last night of the month
07:47knowing that her rent
07:49would not climb the next day.
07:50If that is not defending
07:52the cause of the widow,
07:53what is?
07:55And today, my friends,
07:56I want to reflect
07:57on the third charge,
07:59loving the stranger.
08:01Across this country,
08:03day after day,
08:05we bear witness to cruelty
08:06that staggers the conscience.
08:09Masked agents,
08:10paid by our own tax dollars,
08:13violate the Constitution
08:14and visit terror
08:15upon our neighbors.
08:16They arrive as if
08:18atop a pale horse
08:19and they leave
08:21a path of wreckage
08:22in their wake.
08:23People ripped from their cars,
08:26guns drawn against the unarmed,
08:28families torn apart,
08:30lives shattered,
08:32quietly,
08:33swiftly,
08:34brutally.
08:35If these are not attacks
08:37upon the stranger among us,
08:39what is?
08:40This cruelty is no faraway concept.
08:44ICE operates here in New York.
08:45In our courthouses,
08:48our workplaces.
08:49They skulk at 26 Federal Plaza,
08:52the same building
08:53where I waited in fear
08:54as my father
08:54had his citizenship interview.
08:56If these are not attacks
08:58upon the stranger among us,
09:00what is?
09:02ICE is more than a rogue agency.
09:04It is a manifestation
09:05of the abuse of power.
09:06And it is also new.
09:19It was founded only in 2002.
09:22Four mayors ago,
09:23it did not exist.
09:25Its wrongs need not be treated
09:27as inevitable or inherited.
09:29In fact, we know
09:30that there is no reforming
09:31something so rotten
09:32and so base.
09:41I think of a story
09:42that Reverend Galbraith,
09:44the senior pastor
09:44at Clarendon Road Church
09:46who is here with us today,
09:47shared recently.
09:48Two Haitian immigrants
09:49in his congregation,
09:51a father and son,
09:53had traveled
09:53to 26 Federal Plaza
09:55for fingerprinting.
09:55The man's wife,
09:57the boy's mother,
09:59had gone the week before
10:00without incident.
10:01They thought little of the trip.
10:03It was routine.
10:05In New York,
10:05surely,
10:06one would be safe
10:07at an appointment like this.
10:09And then without explanation
10:10or warning,
10:12they were whisked away.
10:13ICE took them first
10:14to the Brooklyn Detention Center.
10:16The next day,
10:17they were flown to Louisiana.
10:19They felt hopeless
10:21and helpless,
10:23Reverend Galbraith said.
10:25Hopeless and helpless.
10:27If these are not attacks
10:29upon the stranger among us,
10:31what is?
10:32As the federal government
10:33attacks our neighbors,
10:35those who worship
10:36in just the next pew over,
10:38they command us
10:39not to believe what we see.
10:41They compel us,
10:42as George Orwell wrote
10:43nearly 80 years ago,
10:45to reject the evidence
10:46of our eyes and our ears.
10:49And they would succeed
10:50were it not for the many among us
10:52who have not only read
10:53the scripture,
10:54but who live the scripture.
10:56Those who refuse
10:57to abandon the stranger.
11:00I speak of Renee Good,
11:01whose final words
11:03to the man
11:03who murdered her moments later
11:04were,
11:06I'm not mad at you.
11:08I speak of Alex Preddy
11:09who died as he lived,
11:11caring for the stranger.
11:13Here was a man
11:14who held the hand
11:14of the afraid
11:15and the afflicted
11:16in their final moments.
11:18Here was a man
11:18who dedicated his life
11:19to healing those
11:20he had never met.
11:22I shot him 10 times
11:24because he did something
11:25they could never fathom
11:26doing themselves.
11:28He extended his arm
11:29towards a stranger,
11:30not to push her down,
11:32but to help her up.
11:34I speak of the tens of thousands
11:36across our city
11:37and our nation
11:38who took to snowbound streets
11:39in the dead of winter,
11:41refusing to allow
11:42those with the most power
11:43to impose their will
11:44upon those with the least.
11:46If that is not love
11:47for the stranger among us,
11:49what is?
11:50In a moment such as this,
11:52I look to the Bhagavad Gita,
11:54which teaches us
11:55that the highest calling
11:56is to become someone
11:57who sees the true equality
11:58of all living beings
12:00and responds to the joys
12:02and sorrows of others
12:03as if they were their own.
12:05Each of us
12:06has been a stranger
12:07at one point in our lives.
12:10Each of us has known
12:11the feeling of arriving
12:12somewhere new alone,
12:13of depending on the kindness
12:15of someone else.
12:16As ICE fosters a culture
12:18of suspicion and fear,
12:20let this city of strangers
12:21set an example
12:23for how to make
12:23the sorrows of others
12:24our own.
12:26Let us offer a new path,
12:28one of defiance
12:29through compassion.
12:31In so doing,
12:32we can offer something
12:33more expansive and durable
12:34than a mere rejection
12:35of atrocity.
12:37We can rely on our faith
12:38to offer an embrace
12:40of one another.
12:41After all,
12:43few forces hold
12:45as much power
12:46to extend humanity
12:48to all.
12:49As Dr. King once said,
12:51the church is the one place
12:52where a doctor
12:53ought to forget
12:54that he's a doctor.
12:55The church is the one place
12:57where the lawyer
12:57ought to forget
12:58that he's a lawyer.
13:00When the church
13:00is true to its nature,
13:01it says,
13:02whosoever will,
13:03let him come.
13:05That doctrine,
13:06whosoever will,
13:08let him come,
13:09is not limited
13:10to Christianity.
13:11Each of our faiths
13:13asks us the same.
13:14I think of Exodus 23.9,
13:16the words of the Torah,
13:18Thou shalt not
13:19oppress a stranger,
13:20for ye know
13:21the heart of a stranger,
13:22seeing ye were strangers
13:24in the land of Egypt.
13:25Few have stood
13:26so steadfast
13:27alongside the persecuted
13:28as Jewish New Yorkers.
13:30I think of Michael Schwerner
13:31and Andrew Goodman,
13:33who gave their lives
13:34alongside James Cheney
13:35so that all could exercise
13:36the right to the franchise.
13:38I think of Rabbi Heschel,
13:40who marched from Selma
13:41alongside Dr. King.
13:43And I think of Yip Harburg,
13:45who wrote
13:45Somewhere Over the Rainbow,
13:47and uplifted Americans
13:48waiting on breadlines
13:49during the Great Depression.
13:51I think of the freedom
13:52from suffering
13:53that Buddhism teaches us
13:54is only possible
13:56if we remove
13:57the three poisons
13:58of desire,
13:59hatred,
13:59and ignorance
13:59from our daily lives.
14:01We need not accept
14:03suffering as unchangeable.
14:05We need not treat
14:07hatred as the natural state.
14:09We have the power
14:11to set ourselves free.
14:13And I consider my own faith,
14:15Islam,
14:16a religion built upon
14:17a narrative of migration.
14:19The story of the Hijra
14:21reminds us that
14:23Prophet Muhammad,
14:23Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
14:25was a stranger too,
14:27who fled Mecca
14:28and was welcomed in Medina.
14:30Surah Al-Nahl,
14:311642,
14:32tells us,
14:33as for those
14:34who immigrated
14:34in the cause of Allah
14:35after being persecuted,
14:37we will surely bless them
14:38with a good home
14:39in this world.
14:40Or,
14:41as the Prophet Muhammad,
14:42Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
14:42said,
14:44Islam began
14:45as something strange
14:46and will go back
14:47to being strange.
14:49So,
14:49glad tidings
14:50to the strangers.
14:52If faith
14:53offers us
15:02the moral compass
15:03to stand
15:03alongside the stranger,
15:05government can provide
15:06the resources.
15:08Let us create
15:09a new expectation
15:10of City Hall,
15:11where power
15:12is wielded
15:13to love,
15:13to embrace,
15:14and to protect.
15:16We will stand
15:17with the stranger
15:17today,
15:18tomorrow,
15:19and all the days
15:20that are still to come.
15:28And that is why
15:29this morning,
15:31right here
15:31in this moment,
15:32I shall sign
15:33an executive order
15:34that will uphold
15:35our City's protection
15:36not just of our
15:37fellow immigrant New Yorkers,
15:39but of all New Yorkers
15:40from abusive
15:41immigration enforcers.
15:42endorsement.
16:05This order is a sweeping
16:07reaffirmation of our commitment
16:09to our immigrant neighbors
16:10and to public safety
16:11as a whole.
16:12We will make it clear
16:13once again
16:14that ICE will not be able
16:15to enter New York City property
16:17without a judicial warrant.
16:27That means
16:28protect New Yorkers' private data
16:36from being unlawfully accessed
16:38by the federal government
16:39and stand firmly
16:40against any effort
16:44to intrude on our privacy.
16:47No New Yorker
16:48should be afraid
16:48to apply for city services
16:50like child care
16:51because they are an immigrant.
16:52This order mandates
16:56that essential city agencies
16:57are complying
16:58with city laws
16:59and directs them
17:01to conduct thorough audits
17:02of all policies
17:03guiding agency interactions
17:05with immigration authorities.
17:07And it will establish
17:09an interagency response committee
17:11so that in the event
17:12of a major crisis,
17:14we are ready
17:15and equipped
17:15to do the job
17:17of protecting New Yorkers.
17:18We will create
17:27a centralized mechanism
17:28for coordinating policy
17:29across agencies
17:30so that government
17:31speaks with one voice
17:33in times of need.
17:34City Hall
17:35will not look away.
17:38But we...
17:39But we need
17:41our faith leaders with us.
17:43Your moral clarity,
17:45your integrity.
17:46They are the pillars
17:47upon which countless
17:48movements for justice
17:49have been built.
17:51Many of you
17:52have long practiced
17:53the tradition
17:53of supporting
17:54the forgotten
17:54and the downtrodden.
17:56When our immigrant neighbors
17:57are in trouble,
17:58they often turn first
17:59to their faith networks
18:00for counsel,
18:02for legal aid,
18:03for someone
18:04to accompany them
18:05to court.
18:06Today, I call upon you
18:08to help us
18:08give language to courage.
18:10Help us remind New Yorkers
18:12that they are not alone.
18:14We have prepared
18:1530,000 guides
18:16to New Yorkers' rights
18:17in 10 languages,
18:18the ones most spoken
18:20by some of the most
18:21heavily targeted populations
18:23in our city,
18:24teaching our neighbors
18:25what to do
18:26if ICE targets them.
18:28These guides
18:29are here today
18:30ready for you to take.
18:32If you run out,
18:41we will print more.
18:42I urge you
18:43to share these
18:44with your congregants,
18:46even those
18:46who are citizens,
18:47even those whom
18:48you think ICE
18:49may not target.
18:51These materials
18:51apply to us all.
18:53Those who have been here
18:54for five generations,
18:56those who arrived
18:57last year.
18:58They apply to us all
18:59because the obligation
19:00is upon us all
19:02to love thy neighbor,
19:04to look out
19:05for the stranger.
19:06If we are to truly
19:08champion the cause
19:09of the stranger,
19:11let these materials
19:12serve as instructions
19:13for how to stand
19:14in solidarity.
19:15If anything
19:16can turn back
19:18the rising tide
19:18of hatred,
19:20it is a chorus
19:20of those who
19:21worship differently
19:22and live differently,
19:24singing the same
19:25undaunted song.
19:26For we are all
19:28New Yorkers,
19:30and yet that has
19:30not always been accepted.
19:32My friends,
19:33for as long as people
19:34have called this city
19:35their home,
19:36a question has been
19:37contested.
19:39Who is a New Yorker?
19:41At each juncture,
19:42many have sought
19:43to narrow the answer.
19:44The stranger
19:45has been ostracized
19:46on job postings,
19:48on placards denying
19:49entry to restaurants
19:50and shops,
19:51in neighborhoods
19:51where only some
19:52New Yorkers
19:53were allowed to live.
19:54Every conceivable
19:55crack has been
19:56exploited
19:57into a chasm
19:58of division.
20:00On every occasion
20:01where the forces
20:02of darkness
20:02have raised the question,
20:04who is a New Yorker?
20:06The people of the city
20:07have offered
20:08our own answer.
20:09All of us.
20:11And yet we know
20:12that answer
20:12is not permanent,
20:14nor is it predetermined.
20:16Each generation
20:17must assert
20:18what we know
20:19to be true,
20:20because New York
20:20serves as living proof.
20:22We are stronger
20:23when we welcome
20:24the stranger.
20:25This will not be
20:27an easy contest.
20:29Those on the other side,
20:31the ICE agents
20:31of the world,
20:33hold power
20:33and weaponry
20:34and a sense
20:35of impunity.
20:36And yet we hold
20:37one advantage
20:38over them,
20:39one advantage
20:40that no matter
20:40how hard they try,
20:42they cannot overcome,
20:44as they mask
20:45their faces
20:45to attack and murder.
20:47We are not ashamed
20:49of our answer.
20:50So let us answer
20:58the question,
20:59who is a New Yorker
21:00once more,
21:01with conviction
21:02and without shame.
21:04It is all of us.
21:06So together,
21:07New York,
21:08let us advance
21:09the cause of the orphan.
21:11Together,
21:12New York,
21:13let us advance
21:14the cause of the widow.
21:16Together,
21:16New York,
21:17let us love
21:18the stranger among us
21:19because we are them
21:21and they are us.
21:30Subscribe to One India
21:31and never miss an update.
21:34Download the One India app now.
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