New York Mayor Threatens to Sue Trump Administration

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has threatened to sue the Donald Trump administration over allegations that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is using city-owned properties. In a letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Marco Rubio, ICE Acting Director David Venturiola, and ICE New York Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo, Mamdani expressed “deep concern” over recent reports that ICE officers “are using properties owned by New York City to conduct enforcement operations.”

The mayor stated in his letter that the use of city properties to support federal immigration enforcement is “unauthorized, and therefore illegal, endangering city residents and spreading fear among those seeking access to city properties.” Mamdani added, “If your agents continue any unauthorized use of these lands, New York City will take legal action to prevent this unlawful seizure of city property.”

Mamdani, one of the most prominent progressive figures in the Democratic Party, has called for the abolition of ICE. In mid-October, Mamdani and other Democratic leaders in New York urged private parking lot owners in the city to prevent ICE from using their properties.

In a letter to the owners and operators of these properties, the mayor wrote, “In solidarity with New York’s immigrant residents, and in shared commitment to the city we love, we ask that you not lease, lend, or make your properties available in any way to ICE to serve as staging areas for its enforcement operations.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat) were among more than 100 elected officials who signed Mamdani’s earlier letter.