In his address<\/a> to nearly 400 faith and community leaders at the New York Public Library, Mamdani accused federal immigration officials of reigning “terror upon our neighbors” and inflicting “cruelty that staggers the conscience.”<\/p>\n “They arrive as if atop a pale horse, and they leave a path of wreckage in their wake,” he said. “People ripped from their cars. Guns drawn against the unarmed<\/a>. Families torn apart. Lives shattered \u2014 quietly, swiftly, brutally. If these are not attacks upon the stranger among us, what is?”<\/p>\n Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, during a Bloomberg Television interview at City Hall in New York Jan. 29, 2026. (Michael Nagle\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n MAMDANI CLARIFIES NYC WON’T CHECK IMMIGRATION STATUS FOR UNIVERSAL CHILDCARE ENROLLEES<\/a><\/p>\n Mamdani mentioned his own interfaith upbringing being raised by a Muslim father and Hindu mother to highlight the religious diversity<\/a> in New York City and argue various faiths, from Christianity to Islam, instruct believers to defend “the stranger.”<\/p>\n He quoted<\/a> passages from the Torah and book of Deuteronomy about “loving the stranger” and the Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita to urge New Yorkers to respond to the “sorrows of others” as if they were “our own.”<\/p>\n “I think of Exodus 23:9, the words of the Torah: \u2018Thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt,\u2019” Mamdani said before praising Jewish New Yorkers for standing “alongside the persecuted.”<\/p>\n He also cited Buddhism’s teaching about removing desire, hatred and ignorance to achieve freedom from suffering.<\/p>\n Protesters took over the lobby of a New York City hotel protesting ICE. (Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON PUTS ICE \u2018ON NOTICE\u2019 WITH EXECUTIVE ORDER SEEKING PROSECUTION OF AGENTS<\/a><\/p>\n Moving to his own faith, Mamdani described Islam as a religion<\/a> “built upon a narrative of migration,” noting that the Prophet Muhammad was “a stranger, too,” who fled persecution to find a home in Medina.<\/p>\n “Surah An-Nahl 16:42 tells us: ‘As for those who emigrated in the cause of Allah after being persecuted, we will surely bless them with a good home in this world,'” he quoted. “Or, as the Prophet Muhammad (SWT) said: \u2018Islam began as something strange and will go back to being strange, so glad tidings to the strangers.\u2019<\/p>\n “If faith offers us the moral compass to stand alongside the stranger,” Mamdani said, “government can provide the resources.”<\/p>\n New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference Jan. 27, 2026, in New York City. (Yuki Iwamura\/AP)<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE<\/a><\/p>\n At the event, the mayor also signed Executive Order 13<\/a>, which reaffirms and strengthens New York City\u2019s commitment to its sanctuary laws and bars federal agents from city property without a judicial warrant.<\/p>\n![\"Zohran](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/zohran-mamdani-looking-off.png\")
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