New York City’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, issued a warning to federal immigration agents during remarks on Wednesday regarding his transition to City Hall.
In response to a question from a reporter, the 34-year-old democratic socialist said, “My message to ICE agents, and to everyone across this city, is that everyone will be held to the same standard of the law. If you violate the law, you must be held accountable.”
“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 were part of a wider press event on Wednesday, during which he announced his transition team and outlined plans for the weeks leading up to his January 1, 2026, inauguration.
Why It Matters
New York City saw thousands of immigrants arrive during the Biden administration, many of them across the United States-Mexico border, with President Donald Trump heavily criticizing the way the sanctuary city dealt with the issue, as well as leaders’ refusal to collaborate on federal immigration enforcement—a longstanding policy which has become more of a problem for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since the president returned to the White House.
What To Know
In the final days before Election Day, Trump administration officials, including border czar Tom Homan, promised that ICE agents would “flood the zone” and continue to seek out illegal immigrants in New York City.
While other sanctuary cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston, have all seen focused ICE operations, NYC has largely carried on as normal, with targeted enforcement on a far smaller scale. With Mamdani about to take on the mayorship, it appears that could be about to change.
Mamdani has been 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 New York and other cities and counties have opted to enact so-called sanctuary policies, preventing local law enforcement from helping with immigration enforcement, leaders cannot necessarily bar ICE or other federal agencies from carrying out their work.
This has led to considerable tension between largely Democratic leaders, who have sought legal action against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the current administration in the White House, which has threatened to withdraw funding for these jurisdictions.
In New York, with current Mayor Eric Adams, the standoff has been less pronounced. The former Democrat pledged to work with federal agencies on removing known violent criminals without legal status from the city. Adams did maintain that immigrants without criminal records were welcome, but he was viewed as more cooperative than mayors in Boston and Chicago.
Mamdani made it clear on Wednesday that he would approach the situation in a manner far more aligned with his peers in Illinois and Massachusetts, something the DHS will likely not favor.
What People Are Saying
Scott Mechkowski, a retired ICE agent who worked for the agency from the mid-1990s until 2019, previously told Newsweek: “You’re not going to stop the federal government from doing what they’re charged with doing; it’s just not going to happen.”
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, speaking about Mamdani on October 27: “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. Why? Not because they are a blue city or a blue state, because we know that’s where the problem is. We know they are releasing public safety threats and national security threats to the streets every day, because they don’t honor our detainers. We know that, we don’t have that problem in Florida.”
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. These reckless policies have deadly consequences. ICE will continue placing detainers, enforcing immigration law, and defending public safety—because every American deserves to feel safe in their own neighborhood.”
What Happens Next
Mamdani is set to take office on January 1, 2026, with immigration enforcement efforts likely to continue in NYC for the foreseeable future.
Update 11/5/25, 1:34 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin and additional information.