NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday released a video message in Spanish telling people in the city what their rights are if they encounter U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The video was captioned, "If you encounter ICE, here's what every New Yorker should know," and Mamdani said in it, "these are very frightening times for many people," the Washington Examiner reported.

Source: Washington Examiner

In the video, the mayor said ICE cannot legally enter private spaces without a judicial order — spaces he listed as homes, hospitals, churches and private areas of a workplace. He told residents to look for a judge's signature and the words "United States District Court" on any document agents present, to speak with a lawyer before signing any documents or making decisions about their immigration status or case, and he gave the number for the city's immigration legal support line, which he said helps people regardless of their immigration status, according to the Washington Examiner's account of the video.

Source: Washington Examiner

Matzav.com, reporting on the same video, said Mamdani also advised residents to remain calm, to ask whether they are free to leave, to refuse entry or a search where they are legally entitled to do so, and explained the difference between a judicial warrant signed by a judge and an administrative immigration warrant issued by immigration authorities themselves, which generally does not authorize entry into a private home without consent. The mayor also reiterated that the New York Police Department is not permitted to coordinate with ICE on immigration enforcement, and said, "As your mayor, I will fight every day to protect, support, and celebrate our communities."

Source: Matzav.com

The message came after Mamdani criticized ICE over its detention of a Dominican immigrant and over an incident earlier this month in Manhattan's Marble Hill neighbourhood, in which, officials say, an ICE officer shot Oscar Belgal, 28, in the neck as agents sought to detain him; Belgal survived and was taken to a detention facility after hospital treatment. The Trump administration says Belgal is in the country illegally with a criminal record and, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, weaponized his car against officers — a claim Mamdani has disputed, criticizing agents he said wore masks and construction vests. Mamdani has long called for ICE to be abolished, and renewed those calls earlier this month.