On Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump took questions at the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Florida known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” which was built as part of Trump’s escalating attacks on immigrants. When asked his views about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s statements about protecting the city’s residents from ICE, Trump said “then we’ll have to arrest him” and that if a “communist” is running New York, then Trump would be “watching over him very carefully” and would “look into” his citizenship, spreading the false rumor that he might be undocumented.
He also floated the idea of cutting federal funding to the city if Mamdani becomes mayor and spoke positively about one of the candidate’s mayoral opponents, current mayor Eric Adams, with whom Trump cut a deal to save from a corruption investigation in exchange for collaboration on ICE activity.
In addition to Trump’s threats, Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee in particular is calling for Mamdani to be denaturalized and deported. Mamdani is a naturalized U.S. citizen and, like many New Yorkers, immigrated to the country with his parents as a child. Ogles, along with other right-wing officials like Vickie Paladino, are engaging in both racism and red-baiting, arguing that support for Palestine is the same as support for terrorism and that Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members ought not be allowed to become U.S. citizens.
Mamdani put out a statement saying that Trump’s “statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy, but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you.” He also calls New Yorkers to reject this attack by voting for him in November.
We must stand up and reject these attacks right now, understanding that voting for Democrats can’t stop the Far Right — but class struggle can.
Growing Attacks on Migrants and the Left
These threats on Mamdani’s citizenship and personal safety come in the context of the recent Supreme Court ruling weakening birthright citizenship and Department of Justice leadership directing its attorneys to prioritize denaturalizing citizens accused of particular crimes, including “support for terrorism” — a term which has been intentionally conflated with pro-Palestine and pro-immigrant activism.
This is part of Trump and the Far Right’s escalating attacks on immigrants, increasing ICE arrests and deportations in every state in the country — in states like Idaho, deportations have increased by 900 percent and over 20,000 people have been arrested in Texas alone since January. Workplaces, schools, graduations, and homes are being targeted, and many people are being racially profiled and harassed by ICE agents, many in masks and plainclothes.
The threats against Mamdani also come alongside increased attacks on the Left, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Unión del Barrio. The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counter-Terrorism accused these groups of fomenting civil unrest and demanded that they immediately “cease and desist any further involvement” in the ongoing protests in Los Angeles, suggesting that the groups may be formally investigated by the Senate.
Amid these attacks, Mamdani’s primary victory is an expression of the movement for Palestine and millions of people shifting to the left and rejecting establishment Democrats. It’s also part of the mass repudiation of Trump in protests like the No Kings March just a few weeks ago.
Fight Trump’s Attacks in the Streets, Not at the Polls
While we do not support Democrats and have differences with Mamdani’s positions on Israel, the police, and more, it is also imperative to defend him, as well as immigrants, pro-Palestine activists, and the Left from these kinds of attacks. The outcome from Trump’s attacks will have consequences for us all.
If the Trump administration is allowed to follow through on this high-profile attack, it will escalate the targeting of other immigrants over political criticisms of the administration. In other words, if Trump can threaten to deport a U.S. citizen who just won one of the most high-profile races in the country, it only means more violence, brutality, and harassment for those who are not in the spotlight. That is why we cannot allow this attack to pass and must denounce it alongside the attacks on immigrants, the Palestine movement, and the Left.
A sector of Democrats have also been on the offensive against Mamdani. Senator Kristen Gilibrand in particular accused him of supporting “jihad” in an Islamophobic attack that plays hand in hand with Trump’s moves, although she has since apologized after public outcry. Furthemore, contrary to the “vote blue no matter who” slogan that Democrats normally use, Governor Kathy Hochul, both New York Senators, and some other New York representatives are so far refraining from endorsement. With that said, both Hochul and former Mayor Bill de Blasio have spoken out against these blatant attacks on Mamdani, appealing to the progressive base of the Democratic Party who are horrified at these attacks.
As we have pointed out, Mamdani is funneling this anger into the dead end of the Democratic Party and also promoting the idea that elections can stop the right and win major reforms. This attack by Trump is a first expression that this is not true: voting for Mamdani won’t stop Trump’s attacks on him and much less the broader movement. While Mamdani proposes that voters reject Trump’s attacks in November by electing him, we cannot wait until November. These attacks on him, but also on the broader Palestine movement, immigrants, and the left are already underway, and we need a response right now.
The hundreds of thousands of people who voted for Mamdani with the desire to fight the Right, and especially the thousands who have joined the DSA in hopes that Mamdani could spur broader class struggle, must mobilize right now. The mass of canvassers that Mamdani and DSA have amassed have huge potential to play a role in organizing actions across the city against these right wing attacks and using their new electoral machine as a machine for class struggle.
The unions that have endorsed Mamdani, too, must fight back now — not wait passively until November — passing resolutions, organizing mass protests of workers, students, and community members across the city, and using the network of canvassers to organize neighborhood immigrant defense committees. That means mobilizing against these attacks where we are strongest — not at the polls voting for Democrats, but in the streets and in our workplaces.
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