New York state Assemblyman and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said that a “cornerstone” of his campaign is to increase funding for the legal defense of illegal immigrants facing deportation.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who won the Democratic nomination in the mayoral race, said on MSNBC’s “The Weekend: Primetime” that, “400,000 of our residents are right now in urgent risk of deportation.”
“A cornerstone of our campaign is to increase funding for those very legal defense services by more than $100 million so that we can ensure we’re taking every step we can to keep New Yorkers safe, to keep New Yorkers together, and to show the world that they are welcome in this city,” Mamdani said.
New York City’s budget for 2026 includes $54.5 million in funding for immigration services, including $41.9 million in free legal assistance for illegal immigrants who are facing deportation and need help with benefits.
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An additional $12.5 million would go to pro bono lawyers assisting unaccompanied minor immigrants in removal hearings, the New York Post reported.
Mamdani’s campaign calls for boosting legal support for immigration services to “provide representation for people and communities targeted by mass deportation.”
His platform calls for investing $165 million in funding for immigration legal defense services, with some of that funding set aside for specific programs.
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Mamdani’s campaign says that access to legal counsel through the Rapid Response Legal Collaborative (RRLC) improves the chances of immigrants winning their cases, but underfunding meant that only 178 people were served by the program last year.
The campaign adds that as mayor, he would boost funding for the RRLC from $500,000 to $25 million; increase funding for the New York Immigrant Family Unit Program from $16 million to $30 million to keep families together; and increase funding under the Immigrant Opportunity Initiative from $20 million to $40 million.
He has also said he plans to hire 200 lawyers to return New York City’s legal department back to its pre-pandemic levels.
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Despite finding himself as the frontrunner in the mayoral race, Mamdani’s plan has prompted pushback from some Democratic lawmakers.
“New York is in a fiscal crisis, and Mamdani wants to rip another $100 million from taxpayers to bankroll deportation defense, rewarding lawbreaking while seniors, classrooms, sanitation, and public safety go without,” said Council Member Robert Holden, a Democrat from Queens.
“It spits in the face of every immigrant who played by the rules, and I will fight this giveaway with everything I’ve got,” Holden said.
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