New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani posted a video on social media Sunday explaining the right of immigrants to refuse to speak with or comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, days after federal agents raided Manhattan.
In the video, Mamdani vowed to protect the city’s 3 million immigrants, saying, “We can all stand up to ICE if you know your rights.”
He explained that people in the U.S. can choose not to speak to federal immigration agents, film them without interfering, and refuse their requests to enter private spaces.
ICE agents cannot enter premises such as a home, school or private workplace space without a warrant signed by a judge, Mamdani said.
“ICE can lie to you by law, but you have the right to remain silent. If you’re detained, you can always ask, ‘Can I go?’ repeatedly until they answer you,” said Mamdani, who will be sworn in as mayor on January 1.
His comments came a week after protesters gathered as ICE tried to detain people on Canal Street near New York’s Chinatown. A similar immigration crackdown in the same neighborhood last October was also met with protests.
“New York will always welcome immigrants, and I will fight every day to protect, support and celebrate our immigrant brothers and sisters,” Mamdani said in a video on Sunday.
Weeks earlier, Mamdani had a surprisingly cordial meeting in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump, whose administration is conducting federal immigration operations in several US cities, most recently in New Orleans.
