OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
3:14 PM – Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Amid ongoing lawsuits and other tensions between federal immigration authorities and disruptive left-wing leaders, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem suggested on Monday that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani already potentially “violated the Constitution.”
In a Sunday video posted to X, Mamdani advises illegal aliens how to evade encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The remarks come during a rise in ICE activity and shortly after a raid in Manhattan’s Chinatown last weekend.
Mamdani will take office as the new NYC Mayor on January 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, Noem leveled the charge on Monday evening’s edition of “Hannity” on Fox News.
When the DHS Secretary was questioned about New York sanctuary policies and her agency’s response to Mamdani’s video — advising criminal illegal aliens how to evade immigration enforcement — she clarified that the core issue was not narrowly whether it’s illegal to tell illegal aliens how to flee, but rather the question of whether providing instructions on how to evade law enforcement constitutes obstruction of justice or a constitutional violation.
“The mayor, if he were mayor, could be violating the Constitution by giving advice on how to evade law enforcement and how to get away with breaking the law,” Noem added. “We’re certainly going after and looking into all of that with coordination of the Department of Justice,” signaling that her department is actively reviewing the matter for possible legal action.
Noem also noted that Mamdani’s “rhetoric absolutely encourages these violent attacks [of ICE agents],” she continued. “In fact, we had a congresswoman attack our ICE law enforcement officers. We’ve had them show up at ICE facilities and CBP facilities and harass these enforcement officers, use vile language, spit on them.”
Mamdani, a far-left Democratic Socialist and the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor-elect, released the controversial video on X on Sunday. Amid rising ICE enforcement operations, Mamdani advised the city’s roughly 3 million immigrants to listen to his advice in regard to evading encounters with federal agents.
As far as messaging goes, it is also worth noting that Mamdani appears to purposely present his “tips” as a sort of guidance for all of the Big Apple’s immigrants, stoking fears among lawful immigrants, implying that they too could be swept up in raids — despite ICE’s mandate explicitly targeting those who are illegally present in the U.S.
In the video, Mamdani then proceeds to cite the Fourth Amendment, as well as Fifth Amendment rights to silence.
Mamdani’s stance aligns with his campaign promises to roll back cooperation between the New York Police Department (NYPD) and ICE, a policy shift from the more moderate Democrat administration of outgoing Mayor Eric Adams. The Mayor-elect pledged that under his leadership, the NYPD would “never” revert to such federal collaborations, prioritizing “local resources” for community safety over deportations.
While Noem did not specify which constitutional provision Mamdani possibly violated, liberal and leftist critics of the Trump administration have since argued that “know your rights” media has long been disseminated by civil liberties groups without legal action following.
Noem’s office has not yet released any more details on the DOJ coordination mentioned, but sources familiar with the matter told the press that preliminary reviews will focus on whether Mamdani’s “guidance” could be construed as encouraging obstruction under 8 U.S.C. § 1324.
8 U.S.C. § 1324 is a federal law that makes it a crime to knowingly bring in or transport illegal aliens, harbor or conceal them to help them evade detection, encourage or induce unlawful entry or residence, or assist with documentation fraud. Crucial legal elements include knowledge and intent: the person must know the individual is in the U.S. illegally and intend to help them evade authorities, and harboring or concealing.
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