New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing accusations that he gave undocumented immigrants guidance on how to avoid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The Democratic Socialist drew sharp criticism from political opponents after posting a video on Friday explaining New Yorkers’ rights during encounters with ICE officers.
Speaking entirely in Spanish during the roughly 90-second video, Mamdani said ICE agents cannot legally enter private areas without a judicial warrant.
“In a document, look for the words ‘United States District Court’ and a judge’s signature,” Mamdani said. “You can ask the officers to pass the order under the door.”
He also told immigrants stopped or questioned on the street that they have the right to remain silent and may ask agents, “Am I free to go?”
Conservative lawmakers quickly condemned the video. New York Representative Nick LaLota mocked the mayor’s approach, saying, “NYC is becoming more like Paris every day.”
‘Today, the socialist mayor is using taxpayer resources to instruct illegals, in Spanish, how to evade accountability,’ LaLota wrote Friday on X.
Florida Senator Rick Scott accused Mamdani of “openly helping illegal aliens evade ICE and undermine the law.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, has been accused of helping undocumented immigrants avoid ICE
Mamdani said in the video that immigrants questioned by ICE officers on the street have the right to remain silent (Picture of ICE officers in New York City)
Scott added on X: ‘Radical Democrats are doing EVERYTHING in their power to recreate Biden’s open border disaster.’
Utah Senator Mike Lee also criticized the mayor’s advice, writing that “at no point in this video is anyone urged to abide by the laws of the United States.”
‘Because it was not made for the benefit of the people of the United States,’ Lee wrote.
Mamdani concluded by stating that New York City and the NYPD do not “assist in the enforcement of civil immigration law.”
He added that the Constitution protects the right to protest and promised that his administration would “protect that right.”
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno insisted that Mamdani’s video amounted to ‘treason,’ he posted on X.
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace added: ‘If you’re here illegally, you’re not a New Yorker. Period.’
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Mamdani’s rapid ascent from a relatively unknown political activist to City Hall was fueled largely by support from progressive groups on the left.
Yet the mayor has also faced criticism from parts of that coalition in recent weeks, following an October 8 incident in which ICE agents shot and arrested 28-year-old Dominican migrant Oscar Belgal in Marble Hill, northern Manhattan.
Federal officials have said Belgal is undocumented, has a felony record and has ties to gangs.
“Mamdani is complicit,” protesters chanted that evening as the mayor spoke at a press conference.
Some of Mamdani’s supporters have also questioned his repeated meetings with President Donald Trump, including his most recent meeting with the president at Gracie Mansion in September.
According to The New York Times, Mamdani was unable to persuade Trump or DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to release Belgal, despite making several phone calls to the president.
The mayor has repeatedly called for ICE to be abolished, describing the agency as “rotten to its core” during the same press conference.
“We know, and I’ve said this directly, whether to the president or to the public, ICE undermines public safety,” Mamdani said. “It makes us less safe.”
Mamdani also faced criticism from leftists after ICE shot and arrested Dominican migrant Oscar Belgal, 28, on October 8. Authorities said Belgal was undocumented with a felony record
The mayor, who has called to abolish ICE, has also been questioned for taking meetings with President Trump but still having confrontations with immigration authorities in the city
Mamdani has also faced pushback for standing by NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has faced calls to step down from some leftists.
The Democratic Socialists of America, of which Mamdani is a member, demanded that he fire Tisch earlier this month and ‘use every power available to him to drive ICE out of New York City.’
‘Get ICE out of NYC,’ the leftist organization urged the mayor on social media. ‘No capitulation, no retreat.’
Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Mamdani ally, has also called for Tisch to go.
However, Mamdani has insisted that he has ‘no plans’ to remove Tisch as commissioner.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.