New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani denounced the “horrific” crisis playing out in Minnesota while vowing to do “everything in my power” to ensure New York City is not the target of similar immigration crackdowns by President Donald Trump’s administration.
During an interview on Sunday’s episode of “This Week” that was conducted before Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti was killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents, Mamdani accused the White House of gaslighting Americans about why an immigration enforcement officer fatally shot another person earlier this month.
Federal officials have accused that victim, Renée Good, of attempting to ram Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers with her vehicle in an act of domestic terrorism, despite extensive video evidence and witness accounts appearing to show Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel were in no imminent danger.
“I think that there are too many Americans who are being asked to not believe their own eyes, not believe their own ears, not believe their own realities,” Mamdani told ABC’s Jonathan Karl. “And people want to hear the truth.”
“They want to see the truth. And that’s why I described that as a murder because there’s no other way to watch that video and come to a different conclusion.”
Asked if he worried Trump would initiate the same type of deportation operations in New York, Mamdani promised to do whatever it takes to protect his residents.
“We know that the fear that so many are living with in Minneapolis, it’s a fear that New Yorkers are also living with, a fear of being terrorized,” he said. “And I will do everything in my power to ensure that we do not see that take place in New York City.”
Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about whether there are plans to expand immigration enforcement operations there.
Pressed for specifics as to how he’d defend New Yorkers, the mayor said, “Whether those tools are the utilization of the courts or it’s the tools of the bully pulpit or it’s the tools of our own city policies, we’re going to exhaust every option to protect New Yorkers.
“We want to do everything in our power now to ensure it never gets to that stage,” Mamdani added. “But our values, our laws, these are not bargaining chips that we will shirk away from at the first sign of a threat. These are things that we will defend.”
During the interview, Karl questioned Mamdani about his calls to abolish ICE, asking how immigration law would be enforced without the department.
“You do it with a little bit of humanity. You know, immigration existed long before ICE. ICE is a modern creation. I’m older than ICE,” he said of the agency, which was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Distinguishing ICE from other parts of the government that oversee immigration law, Mamdani told Karl, “ICE is an organization that cares little for the rules. It’s an organization that operates with reckless impunity and seems to revel in the flouting of those kinds of rules. And that’s what gives people a real sense of fear.”