New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a new executive order on Friday that he said will protect New Yorkers from “abusive immigration enforcement.”
Mamdani is the latest Democratic leader to take action to curb Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts in his community in the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The new executive order will reaffirm the city’s status as a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants, according to the mayor’s office.
“This order is a sweeping reaffirmation of our commitment to our immigrant neighbors and to public safety as a whole. We will make it clear once again that ICE will not be able to enter New York City property without a judicial warrant,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani announced the order during his speech at the city’s Interfaith Breakfast on Friday morning. The order enforces the city’s existing immigration laws, directs city agencies to audit their policies related to interactions with immigration authorities, and establishes a committee to respond to any immigration-related “crises” in the city.
“We will protect New Yorkers’ private data from being unlawfully accessed by the federal government, and stand firmly against any effort to intrude on our privacy. No New Yorker should be afraid to apply for city services like child care because they are an immigrant,” Mamdani said.
Govs. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) have each announced polices in the wake of the Good and Pretti killings by immigration enforcement officers.
Hochul and Spanberger each backed policies to eliminate 287(g) agreements, which allow federal law enforcement officers to deputize local police and use local facilities for immigration enforcement purposes, in their respective states. Sherrill announced a policy move to create a statewide database for New Jersey residents to upload images of ICE officers.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously told the Washington Examiner that “7 of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE.”
“Our partnerships with state and local law enforcement are key to removing criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from American communities. When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with us, that is when we have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” the DHS spokesperson said in the statement.
SPANBERGER ORDERS TERMINATION OF VIRGINIA COOPERATION WITH ICE
Hochul introduced the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act in late January to eliminate all of the state’s local partnerships with ICE. If pushed through the state legislature, the bill would dismantle the 287(g) agreements of about 14 different local departments, agreements that those departments actively opted into.
On Wednesday, Spanberger signed an executive order terminating the Virginia State Police’s 287(g) agreement with federal immigration enforcement.
