New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the federal government of waging a “campaign of violence and terror” against migrant communities in the city.
His comments came alongside his announcement that he and other sanctuary cities filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over expanded public charge rules. “The federal government has waged a campaign of violence and terror,” Mamdani said. “ICE has broken into our neighbors’ homes, work sites and schools. And it has targeted those who have come to our country in search of refuge and in search of opportunity. These actions are an assault on our civic fabric, on our shared values. And no matter how much destruction they have already caused, it continues.”
“Immigrants from every country, from every continent, who speak every language and worship in every conceivable way, drive our buses and our trains, teach our children how to read, and tend to us when we are sick,” he said, adding, “Immigrants fought for the 8-hour workday for fair pay and workplace protections that deliver dignity into the lives of so many.”
Discussing the new rule, Mamdani said, “If you are a citizen or an individual seeking humanitarian relief like asylum, these changes will not affect you.”
“The new federal public charge rule not only sweeps aside more than a century of established law; it is intentionally vague as a means of creating uncertainty and fear, to isolate immigrant New Yorkers, to force them to make an impossible choice between meeting their own basic needs and continuing to live in the city that they love.”
