There has been a lot of news out of New York City this week in regard to the upcoming mayoral election and what a possible Zohran Mamdani administration will look like in terms of immigration.
The final debate among the candidates was held on Tuesday night, and next week, early voting starts, followed by the election itself the following week.
The debate was fire, another endorsement was made, and Mamdani gave us a peek into what his plans are for ICE.
The first debate was not a particularly good showing for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but he was the picture of pure desperation on Wednesday night, going after Mamdani with everything he had while fending off attacks regarding his sexual harassment scandal as governor. While Mamdani came off slick during the first debate, he was clearly under pressure in this one.
Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, explained, “Cuomo won the debate. He had a good night. He landed more punches and exposed weaknesses in Mamdani’s presentation. He presented doubts about Mamdani.”
Republican strategist Rob Ryan observed, “[Mamdani] seemed rattled by Cuomo’s pounding attacks on his lack of experience. It wiped away his usual smirk, and he had no real response.”
Democratic Party operative and lobbyist Yvette Buckner also believed that Mamdani took a big hit in the debate, stating, “His lack of specifics on key issues like ballot initiatives gave Cuomo and Sliwa an opening to go on the attack.”
Mayor Eric Adams has been out of the race for about two weeks now, but he disappeared for a bit before endorsing anyone in the race.
After the debate last night, it was revealed that Adams would be throwing his support behind Cuomo, and the two were then spotted at the Knicks game sitting courtside like best buds.
Adams said he will campaign with Cuomo during the final two weeks of the race, adding, “I think that it is imperative to really wake up the Black and brown communities that have suffered from gentrification on how important this race is.”
He continued, “They have watched their rents increase in terms of gentrification, and they have been disregarded in those neighborhoods, and I’m going to go to those neighborhoods and speak one-on-one with organizers and groups, and I’m going to walk with the governor in those neighborhoods and get them engaged.”
During the debate, Mamdani took repeated shots at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stating, “ICE is a reckless entity that cares little for the law and even less for the people that they’re supposed to serve.”
He then announced that there would be no cooperation with ICE while he is mayor, explaining, “What we need to be doing here in our city is to end the chapter of collaboration between City Hall and the federal government.”
Mamdani was speaking directly to a report by Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin, who had announced, “ICE conducted a targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City, focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods yesterday.” During that operation, nine illegal immigrants with criminal records were arrested. Their offenses include drug trafficking, drug possession, forgery, and assaulting law enforcement, among others.
These are the people that Mamdani wants to protect, yet, right now, more than 40% of New Yorkers are still going to pull the lever for him on election day. Tell me, how is ICE reckless for removing criminals from the streets? I can’t help but shake my head that this is even a “thing” right now.
