Politics
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Administration Forced to Give Names of Homeless Shelter Residents to ICE
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani‘s administration legally must provide Immigration and Customs Enforcement with information about residents of a homeless shelter in the Bronx.
On November 6, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the city must comply with a subpoena from federal immigration officials to share information about the identities of some of the men who live at the Bruckner shelter in Mott Haven, according to the New York Post.
“The City has not shown that producing this list would be unduly burdensome,” Kaplan wrote in his ruling.
ICE is looking to collect residents’ names, birthdays, and records as they investigate whether anyone living at the city-run shelter is a non-U.S. citizen subject to deportation, the outlet reported. While ICE first asked for the names of everyone living there, the agency has since said it will designate a special master to identify residents only with “certain serious criminal histories,” the filing revealed.
“In light of the agency’s consent to the use of a special master, and deferring to the agency’s assessment that the records are relevant to its legitimate investigation, the Court thus concludes the subpoena concerns a matter which is material and relevant to the enforcement of the federal immigration laws,” Kaplan also wrote in the 12-page order, per Politico.
The city alleged ICE was trying to “leverage the federal administrative subpoena power to circumvent and undermine the City’s sanctuary city laws,” slamming the subpoena as “more political than investigatory,” according to the order, per Politico.
When asked if there was a plan to appeal, the 35-year-old mayor’s spokesperson, Ivonne Rodriguez, said the administration is “evaluating next steps,” Politico reported.
The legal battle has been going on for over a year, as the federal agency first asked NYC for records about residents of two shelters before shifting its requests. The city previously accused ICE of conducting a “fishing expedition.”
