New York City’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, issued a warning to federal immigration agents during remarks Wednesday about his transition to City Hall.
“There’s sadly a sense that is growing across this country that certain people are allowed to violate the law whether that be the president or agents themselves,” Mamdani continued. “What New Yorkers are looking for is an era of consistency, an era of clarity, and an era of conviction. And that’s what we will deliver to them.”
The mayor-elect’s comments came as part of a broader press event where he introduced his transition team and outlined plans for the weeks ahead of his January 1, 2026, inauguration.
New York City saw thousands of immigrants arrive during the Biden administration, many crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, with President Donald Trump heavily criticizing how the sanctuary city handled the issue and its refusal to cooperate with federal enforcement.
Trump administration officials, including border czar Tom Homan, vowed before Election Day that ICE agents would “flood the zone” in New York City and pursue illegal immigrants under renewed federal orders.
While other sanctuary cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston have seen large-scale ICE operations, New York has remained comparatively restrained, with targeted enforcement at a smaller scale.
That could now change as Mamdani prepares to take office.
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The mayor-elect has been sharply critical of ICE, describing it as “a rogue agency” with “no interest in law and order.”
Over the summer, he pledged to prevent federal agents from carrying out removals from the city.
While local sanctuary policies bar police from aiding immigration enforcement, city leaders cannot legally block federal agents from conducting operations.
That has fueled ongoing clashes between Democratic leaders and the Department of Homeland Security, which has threatened to withhold funding from cities refusing to honor ICE detainers.
Under Mayor Eric Adams, New York maintained a limited cooperation policy, with Adams pledging to work with federal officials to remove violent offenders while protecting non-criminal immigrants.
Mamdani indicated Wednesday he plans a far tougher stance, aligning himself with sanctuary city mayors in Chicago and Boston.
Former ICE agent Scott Mechkowski said blocking federal operations “just isn’t going to happen.”
“You’re not going to stop the federal government from doing what they’re charged with doing,” Mechkowski told Newsweek.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said last month that ICE operations in New York would intensify.
“We’re going to be in New York City, and as President Trump said, we’re going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities,” Homan said on October 27. “We know they are releasing public safety threats and national security threats to the streets every day because they don’t honor our detainers.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Newsweek, “As it does every day, DHS will enforce the law including in New York City. When sanctuary politicians ignore ICE detainers, they are protecting criminal illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens.”
“ICE is arresting and removing barbaric criminals with prior convictions for rape, murder, drug trafficking, and instead of holding them for ICE, sanctuary politicians release them back into your communities,” McLaughlin added. “These reckless policies have deadly consequences.”
Mamdani will be sworn in on January 1, 2026, with federal immigration enforcement expected to remain a major issue for his administration.
