OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
12:03 PM – Thursday, December 11, 2025
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has defended a video posted to his social media after it drew criticism from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
On Sunday, Mamdani uploaded a short video to X with the caption, “Know your rights. Protect your neighbors. New York is — and always will be — a city for all immigrants.”
“We can all stand up to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) if you know your rights,” the future mayor said in the video, which provided subtitles in Spanish.
The video was released two months after an ICE raid on Canal Street. During that operation, nine illegal aliens were arrested. Their rap sheets included robbery, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, and forgery.
Mamdani explained to viewers that New Yorkers must know what to do when approached by federal officers. He noted that immigration officers cannot enter private spaces — including homes, schools and workplaces — without a judicial warrant signed by a judge. The self-described democratic socialist then provided an example of a warrant and an example of a document that should not be mistaken for a warrant.
“ICE is legally allowed to lie to you, but you have the right to remain silent,” said Mamdani. “If you’re being detained, you may always ask, ‘Am I free to go?’ repeatedly until they answer you.”
He told viewers they can legally film officers, but warned against interfering with an arrest or resisting arrest.
Noem pushed back on the guidance video during a Fox News interview this week, where she discussed the increasing violent attacks on immigration officers and facilities.
“We’re certainly going after and looking into all of that with coordination with Department of Justice but 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 said when asked if politicians such as Mamdani are breaking laws by encouraging non-compliance with ICE agents.
She also said that the rhetoric used by left-wing politicians likening ICE to the Gestapo “absolutely encourages these violent attacks.”
Noem told politicians to work towards changing laws they find unjust instead of advising the public on how to get around them.
On Wednesday, in an interview with MSNow, Mamdani was asked if he was prepared for the possibility of being found guilty of breaking the law in response to Noem’s comments.
“I’m prepared for any consequence that comes for standing up for New Yorkers, because that’s my job,” Mamdani said. “That’s what I ran to do.”
“I’m proud to inform people of their rights, and I can’t think of a more American thing to do than to speak about the protections that we all have under the law,” he added.
During the interview, he also made it clear that he would not be assisting the federal government’s illegal immigration enforcement.
Mamdani’s term as mayor begins on January 1, 2026.
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