In recent days, as the city witnesses near-daily protests against ICE and the Trump administration’s deportation overdrive, the question of how the next mayor will stand up for New York’s immigrant population and push back on the president’s immigration crackdown has come into sharper focus. And while undocumented immigrants cannot vote in the New York City mayoral election, they are playing an increasingly important role in the hotly contested race for the city’s top job.
In 2024, immigrants made up nearly 40% of New York City’s population, according to the most recent report from the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. With primary day, June 24, drawing closer — and early voting already underway — many are wondering if immigration issues could tip the scales.
Mere minutes into the second and final New York City mayoral primary debate last Thursday evening, comptroller Brad Lander accused former governor and mayoral frontrunner Andrew Cuomo of cheating immigrant subway cleaners out of their wages. Cuomo quickly retorted that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) “should never have hired illegal immigrants, if it is true.”
Cuomo’s use of the phrase “illegal immigrants” drew immediate and sharp reactions on the debate stage — and from viewers at a watch party of Zohran Mamdani supporters in Queens. The watch party, which Documented attended, was one of five ‘Zohran For NYC’ debate viewing events held across the city by the NYC Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). It was held in the neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, which is not only part of assemblyman Mamdani’s district, but also often described as the heart of immigrant New York. The crowd there jeered and booed loudly at Cuomo’s remarks even as Lander shot back: “I’m sorry, is that what you said — what did you call them?”
In response, Cuomo said, “If anyone was undocumented, or they [MTA] didn’t pay the proper wages, I had nothing to do with it.” Lander’s reply, seeking once again to pin accountability on Cuomo, was met with hoots and cheers from the studio audience, as well as those at the watch party.
Lander has defined his approach to immigration policy as “compassionate” and “cost effective.” Just last Tuesday, Lander issued a call to increase the city’s investment in immigration legal services by $170 million. His mayoral platform states that Lander “will ensure immigrant New Yorkers have access to the legal services they need to get work authorization, ESL, job training, and case management.”
Cuomo, on the other hand, has billed himself as the candidate with the most experience and the only one who is capable of pushing back on President Donald Trump. In regards to immigration issues, Cuomo has said that there’s a need for a national coalition of like-minded states and cities to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. That said, the former governor’s platform also attributes New York City’s increased crime rates in part to “the mass influx of asylum-seekers and illegal migrants that began in 2022.”
Moumita Ahmed, a labor representative for government workers was at the event and was among those jeering at Cuomo’s remarks. Ahmed, an immigrant from Bangladesh, moved to the United States when she was 8 years old and became a naturalized citizen. Her reaction to Cuomo’s comment at the debate was one of disapproval: “What does that even mean? No human is illegal. How can you trust someone who sees those people as illegal to actually protect them from ICE, from Donald Trump?”
Faith Lazar, a post-doctoral fellow in History at Yale University, said Cuomo sounded like a Republican with a right-wing talking point when he mentioned “illegal” immigrants.
“It is this idea of illegality and criminality attached to our friends and loved ones,” she said. “People don’t like to hear their neighbors be called illegal.” Referring to the recent surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of individuals appearing for their immigration court dates or routine check-ins, she said, “This idea of illegality is so bogus because they’re trying to follow the laws and the process of asylum and yet, they are being targeted.”
Multiple polls show Cuomo, Mamdani and Lander leading the pack of mayoral candidates, usually in that order. (Mamdani and Lander cross-endorsed each other on Friday.) At the No Kings protest in New York on Saturday, where slogans and signs against ICE were as much a mainstay as ones against Trump, there were sporadic chants of “Don’t rank Cuomo” that were raised. Marching along were also voters sporting stickers that read “Cuomo for Mayor.”
Mamdani for his part has focused his campaign on making New York safe and livable for all New Yorkers — including immigrants. During last week’s debate, Mamdani condemned the NYPD’s role in recent immigration enforcement efforts.
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As the mayoral candidates exchanged verbal attacks on the debate stage, Shruthi Velidi, a community organizer and DSA member emphasized the importance of action. “I’ve seen Zohran on the streets, go to protests for immigrants’ rights, fight back against the raids that we’re seeing plague the city,” she said. “He’s there, with the people.”
During the debate, Mamdani said: “What is so troubling to see right now is we also have the NYPD assisting ICE in some of those very missions right here in New York City.” He added that as mayor, he would “invest $165M in funding for immigration legal defense services” and that the city administration would provide lawyers for immigrants in deportation proceedings, which he said would significantly increase their chances of “coming home to their families in New York City.”
Velidi, a child of Indian immigrants, referred specifically to a video from March 12 as proof of Mamdani showing up for immigrants. Mamdani had confronted Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s ‘border czar,’ in Albany, screaming at him, “How many more New Yorkers will you detain? How many more New Yorkers without charge?” even as law enforcement officials attempted to hold him back. The confrontation had taken place four days after Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and recent graduate of Columbia University, had been arrested by federal immigration authorities.
“I know a lot of people in the city who saw that video and were inspired to get involved and volunteer for Zohran’s campaign because they finally thought that they found someone who would stand up for them,” Velidi said.
‘An immigrant himself’
For many of those gathered at the watch party, the 33-year-old progressive assemblymember and his ideas for New York represent a battle for what the Democratic party should seek to achieve for its constituents — expanded welfare measures such as free childcare, cheaper mass transit, and a hiatus on rent increases. Yet, even in a crowded field of Democrats, several of whom have echoed similarly aggressive plans on issues such as housing and childcare, a key factor that has heightened Mamdani’s appeal, particularly among immigrant voters, is that he is an immigrant himself.
Rafi Islam, a 25-year-old community organizer and DSA member who attended the watch party, had moved to the U.S. from Bangladesh a decade ago. Like Mamdani, he is a Brown, Muslim immigrant who became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Mamdani, who has Indian and Ugandan roots, was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, before moving to New York City with his family at the age of 7. “Zohran is not just seeing it. He feels what it is to be an immigrant, he can relate to it more,” Islam said. “That’s why he’s out there fighting.”
Sebastián Martín, founder of Cambio Labs, a non-profit organization working with low-income social entrepreneurs and workers, said, “Zohran actually represents immigrant communities and marginalized communities in New York City that don’t get enough power politically and economically.”
In 2021, Mamdani, in his first year as an elected lawmaker, went on a hunger strike for 15 days with then fellow assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, to demand a debt relief deal for taxi drivers, a group of workers consisting largely of immigrants.
During last Thursday’s debate, when Cuomo criticized Mamdani for having “accomplished nothing,” Mamdani shot back saying: “I want Mr. Cuomo to look out into the crowd and look at Richard Chow, who lost his brother to suicide because of the taxi driver debt crisis. I went with Mr. Chow over many, many months organizing to push this very city to finally reckon with its complicity in that, and we won $450 million in debt relief, and I want you to look at him and tell him that that’s nothing.” Richard Chow, an immigrant from Myanmar and a taxi driver himself, was in the studio audience for the debate.
For Martín, a child of South American immigrants, born in the U.S. to a Bolivian mother and Chilean father, Mamdani’s background is one he resonates with personally. “Zohran became an American, just like my parents,” he said. “He understands the economic power that immigrants hold in this city.”
Though early voting is underway and ballots have begun to be cast, the mayoral race is far from over. With seven days to go to the primaries, eleventh-hour cross-endorsements and anti-endorsements, attack ads and frantic canvassing, are all taking place against the backdrop of further arrests by federal immigration authorities and protests against ICE. Along with the likes of affordability and public safety, the issues of the city’s immigrants are also now front and center.
Ahmed remarked, “It’s about having a mayor that’s going to loudly and boldly declare that all humans deserve dignity.”
