New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani drew sharp criticism after releasing a Spanish-language video coaching migrants on evading ICE, including refusing agents entry without a judicial warrant. The socialist mayor also reaffirmed his administration’s refusal to assist federal civil immigration enforcement. His message followed efforts to deny ICE access to parking facilities, while Governor Kathy Hochul has moved to shut down formal cooperation agreements between immigration authorities and local police.
The roughly 90-second video appeared on the mayor’s social media account on October 23rd with English subtitles. Mamdani addressed encounters inside private spaces and stops on the street, then promoted city-funded immigration legal assistance. He also assured viewers that municipal authorities, including local police, would not help carry out civil immigration enforcement.
Mamdani instructed viewers to examine warrants for a judge’s signature and the words “United States District Court.” He advised asking whether they were free to leave during street encounters and consulting a lawyer before signing immigration documents. In discussing agents seeking entry, he told viewers they could keep the door closed and withhold consent if officers lacked a judicial order.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), accused the mayor of helping people evade federal authorities. “The Mayor of New York is openly helping illegal aliens evade [ICE] and undermine the law,” Scott wrote. He also blamed Democrats for attempting to revive the immigration policies of former President Joe Biden.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) focused his criticism on the absence of any encouragement to comply with federal law. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) separately challenged the use of public resources to deliver the message. “At no point in this video is anyone urged to abide by the laws of the United States,” Lee wrote.
LaLota connected the video to broader Democratic immigration policies, criticizing sanctuary protections and publicly funded services for illegal immigrants. His response also cited Biden’s reversal of the Remain in Mexico policy. “Today, the socialist mayor is using taxpayer resources to instruct illegals, in Spanish, how to evade accountability,” LaLota wrote.
Watch Mamdani deliver his Spanish-language message here:
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Mamdani had already joined more than 100 elected officials in urging private parking operators to deny ICE space for enforcement operations. Their October 16th letter asked owners not to rent, lend or otherwise make their facilities available as staging grounds. Signatories included Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The letter stated: “Make it known to ICE that it is not authorized to use your garages and lots.”
Hochul has pursued restrictions at the state level through the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act. Her office announced that its prohibition on 287(g) agreements took effect August 25th. Those agreements allow local personnel to perform specified federal immigration-enforcement functions. The law prohibits those partnerships and similar arrangements using local resources to detain people for federal immigration violations.
Attorney General Letitia James notified 12 local law-enforcement agencies that their agreements had to be unwound by the August deadline. The Justice Department challenged the prohibition, although a federal court declined to block it through a preliminary injunction. Hochul’s broader immigration package also included restrictions on officers’ face coverings and immigration enforcement at sensitive locations, along with a state-law mechanism for lawsuits over constitutional violations by government officials.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.