Mamdani's celebration of immigrants in NYC inspires advocates, who hope LI leaders will follow

Zohran Mamdani’s strong words in defense of immigrants in his election night victory speech are inspiring advocates on Long Island who hope the new mayor of New York City can serve as a model for Long Island leaders.

While Mamdani can't directly curb President Donald Trump’s federal immigration crackdown, the advocates said they were elated that he was already using the bully pulpit as New York City mayor-elect to celebrate immigration at a time when many in the community felt under attack.

Mamdani directly confronted Trump in his speech late Tuesday night, referring to him as a "despot" and vowing fierce resistance after he becomes mayor on Jan. 1. Trump has been openly hostile to Mamdani, calling him a "Communist" and threatening to cut off federal aid to the city after his election.

"New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant," the mayor-elect said on election night in Brooklyn. "So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us."

Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island, a nonprofit, said she hoped Mamdani’s words would galvanize local politicians to do the same.

"That's the sentiment that we need to be sharing and embodying out here on the East End of Long Island," she said. "There's no reason why people that are in positions of power and influence can't be standing up."

"If we have one or two people stand up and be strong, it might be that we're going to start to see more strength and see a positive domino effect," she said.

Melanie Creps, executive director of the nonprofit Central American Refugee Center in Hempstead and Brentwood, said Mamdani’s speech "was inspiring, and gives hope."

She said although Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who fully supports Trump’s crackdown, was reelected on Tuesday, "perhaps some of Mamdani's momentum will create results out here too."

Mamdani made immigrants a key part of his speech. He was born in Uganda and came to the United States at the age of 7 with his parents, who hail from India. Mamdani is the first immigrant in decades and the first Muslim elected mayor of New York City. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

"Thank you to those so often forgotten by the politics of our city, who made this movement their own," he said. "I speak of Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas. Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses. Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties. Yes, aunties."

Richard Koubek, a leader of the Long Island Immigrant Justice Alliance, said he thought Mamdani’s speech was powerful.

"He rallies people, you know, he incites people and motivates people. He energizes people. So to that extent, he can do a lot. I mean, people are looking at him all over the country now," Koubek said. "He can use the bully pulpit to continue to rally Americans to say, ‘This is disgusting, this is not who we are. We are a nation of immigrants.’ "

Mamdani cannot in general halt the crackdown since it is a federal responsibility. "It's out of his control. Everything that's happening is federal policy," said Koubek.

The most local governments can do is refuse to sign a so-called 287(g) agreement in which local police departments agree to cooperate with ICE agents and activities in their area, Koubek said. Blakeman has signed a 287(g) agreement. Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine has not.

But Perez said she believed local leaders such as Mamdani could question the legality of the practices by federal immigration authorities, challenging delays in allowing people arrested on the street or outside immigration court to contact family or counsel.

While Trump has said he was targeting immigrants here illegally who were criminals, Perez and other advocates said others were being caught up. "Right now, people that are not doing anything wrong, that don't have criminal backgrounds, are being snatched up," she said.

Nadia Marin-Molina, the Nassau County-based co-executive director of the National Day Laborers Organizing Network, said Mamdani’s words represented "a powerful contrast to Long Island."

She said local officials could still make sure those arrested get legal support, help their relatives find them in immigration jails, and file "litigation that will challenge" how federal immigration authorities operate.