Transcript: Mayor Mamdani New York City Leads Cities And Counties In Lawsuit Challenging Federal Government's New Public Charge Rule
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good morning. Thank you to everyone who has joined us today here at City Hall. I want to recognize our city's Corporation Counsel, Steve Banks, and the countless others in the Law Department for their tireless work on behalf of immigrant New Yorkers. I want to commend State Attorney General Letitia James for her ongoing efforts to protect our immigrant communities with the full force of New York's legal power. And I want to thank the New Yorkers and immigrant families that are standing alongside me, all of whom proudly call our city home. We have among them New York Immigration Coalition President Murad Awawdeh. We have Make the Road Health Program Director Arlene Cruz. We have leaders from within City government, whether our deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, Helen Arteaga; deputy mayor of Economic Justice, Julie Su; chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem; our commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Faiza Ali; HRA administrator, Scott French; Health Department commissioner, Dr. Alister Martin; special advisor for Strategic Coordination and Operations, Bitta Mostofi. We also have leaders at both the city level, the borough level and the district level, whether our Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; our Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal; as well as so many friends and colleagues representing this city in the Council, in the Assembly and in the State Senate. We are all gathered here today out of a belief that New York City is the greatest city in the world, in no small part, because of the immigrants who helped to build it. Immigrants laid the foundations of our bridges and erected towers that stretch into the sky. Immigrants wrote the poems that stir our hearts and sang the songs that make us dance. Immigrants fought for the eight-hour workday, for fair pay and workplace protections that delivered dignity into the lives of so many. Immigrants from every country, from every continent, who speak every language and worship in every conceivable way, drive our buses and our trains, teach our children how to read and tend to us when we are sick. Immigrants are New Yorkers, and yet we know that all too often they are not treated as such. The federal government has waged a campaign of violence and terror. Unaccompanied children have been forced to navigate our judicial system alone. ICE has broken into our neighbors' homes, work sites and schools, and it has targeted those who have come to our country in search of refuge and in search of opportunity. These actions are an assault on our civic fabric, on our shared values, and no matter how much destruction they have already caused, it continues. Just last month, the federal government finalized a set of drastic and unlawful changes to our country's public charge rule, a rule that makes it possible for someone to be denied immigration status based on the likelihood of their need for public benefits. Set to go into effect this coming Friday, Sept. 18, the new public charge rule expands the list of public benefits that might count against green card or visa applicants. If you are a citizen or an individual seeking humanitarian relief like asylum, these changes will not affect you. The new federal public charge rule not only sweeps aside more than a century of established law; it is intentionally vague as a means of creating uncertainty and fear, to isolate immigrant New Yorkers, to force them to make an impossible choice between meeting their own basic needs and continuing to live in the city that they love. Make no mistake: this is an undisguised effort to strip New Yorkers of the services they rely on, the public benefits they are entitled to. Families, including those with children who are U.S. citizens, have already begun to forego essential services like SNAP, Medicaid and affordable housing out of the fear that if they use these programs, immigration officers could use it as justification to deny them a future in our country. The toll of this new rule cannot be overstated. It is estimated that up to 4 million people from across the country could unenroll from their health care alone, including 1.8 million children. None of this is abstract. People could die; as a result of these changes, the rate of premature mortality in immigrant communities in New York City could increase by up to 10.6 percent within just the next five years. The data is clear. Denying people's services does not erase their need; it compounds it, generating a greater cost to our system that will be placed on the backs of working people for years to come. Nothing about this rule will reduce waste, or keep Americans safer, or improve New Yorkers' lives. It is simply a vehicle for confusion and a vehicle for cruelty. Here in New York City, however, cruelty is not how we seek to govern. Immigrants are New Yorkers. And like I said once before, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us. That is why today we are confronting this injustice with the solidarity and action that it demands. New York City is leading a coalition of cities and counties, including Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County and King County, to sue the federal government for the gross illegality of their new public charge rule and the irreparable damage that it will cause. We are filing our lawsuit alongside a separate challenge led by Attorney General James. I am grateful for her partnership in this fight and for everything she has done to stand steadfast alongside New Yorkers. Now before I close, I would like to take a moment to speak directly to those across our city who may be affected by the new public charge rule. Nothing about your or a family member's eligibility to access benefits and services has changed. If you rely on SNAP, Medicaid or programs like WIC and TANF, do not disenroll without first seeking advice from a trusted legal provider. And if you have concerns about how public charge may affect you or your families, City Hall is here to help. To connect with a trusted, safe and confidential legal services provider for free, you can call the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs Legal Help Hotline at 1-800-354-0365. And to ensure that you have the information you need, we are partnering with organizations across the five boroughs to host community forums, trainings and clinics. And we are training city outreach teams on public charge so they can support you throughout this challenging time. Government exists to serve the people. In the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we will not waver on the commitment we hold to those we serve; the commitment that we hold for one another. We will stand with immigrant New Yorkers every step of the way, and in doing so, we will once again demonstrate the power of a city united. Thank you.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, first and foremost, I just want to say very clearly that our intent here is not to win a temporary injunction. It is to stop the implementation of this rule entirely. And the reason for that is we know that this is something that will have devastating consequences for immigrant New Yorkers, far beyond just those who it technically applies to. And a lot of the reason for that distinction is that we have seen a climate of fear for immigrants regardless of their status. I have a clear memory of going into a Dominican barbershop in Harlem and speaking to the barbers about ICE raids. And one of them turned to me and said, "We all have status, and yet few of us are showing up to work because they don't care who has status anymore when they're picking people up.” And so we're talking about something that we know categorically does not apply to certain sets of New Yorkers, and yet we're already seeing evidence of those kinds of New Yorkers unenrolling from lifesaving benefits. So, at this time, I cannot give you an exact cost to the City because we are trying to do everything we can to ensure that we not only stop this rule but also that we communicate to New Yorkers that are not technically affected by this rule to not take decisions that they otherwise cannot undo once they move forward with it. That is why one of our points of advice, separate from our legal action here, is for any immigrant New Yorker with concern to call our Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs hotline. Again, that number is 1-800-354-0365. And we encourage every immigrant New Yorker with concerns to go to a trusted legal provider before making those decisions. You've heard it not only from those of us in government, but also outside of government, of the kinds of concerns they're hearing. These are actions that will have devastating consequences for New Yorkers across our city.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI am incredibly worried about the impacts that both existing law will have once implemented as well as this rule change. And at a time when we are facing the reality of being the most expensive city in the United States of America, to see the federal government pursue rule changes and legislation that will make hungry New Yorkers hungrier, that will make poor New Yorkers poorer, it is a slap in the face to everything that we should be doing in this moment, which is to make it easier for working-class New Yorkers to afford their life here in the city.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I'm first going to answer your question as to what actions we're taking separate from the legal steps. And then I'm going to pass it over to our Corporation Counsel, Steve Banks, to add some additional details there. In terms of the steps that we are taking, this rule is set to take effect on Friday of this week. We are spending each and every day right now looking to communicate with as many immigrant New Yorkers as possible about what this rule does and what it does not do. We are equipping a lot of our city workers with the information of this so they can also communicate this. And we've set up this hotline to ensure that New Yorkers have a place they can call so that they know who they can ask for this kind of advice. Before I pass it over to our Corporation Counsel, I do just want to bring up our public advocate, Jumaane Williams, because we've spoken about the fact of concern for immigrant New Yorkers. He has been a leader in this issue and has also correctly described himself as the highest-ranking Caribbean official here in our city. And we know that these kinds of attacks, we have seen them every single week, and we've recently seen them against our Haitian brothers and sisters. We're seeing them continue with a broader population. I just wanted to know, public advocate, if there's anything you wanted to ask.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWe are going to exhaust every tool that we have to take care of New Yorkers. And I want to make very clear, when we speak about immigrants, we are not somehow speaking about a separate population from New York; we're speaking about New Yorkers. I myself stand here as the first immigrant mayor of our city in generations. And we are going to exhaust every tool to fight this rule. We are also going to ensure that everything we can do, especially in response to HR 1, we are doing all with the knowledge that there is no city in this country that can make up, dollar for dollar, what the federal government is looking to cut in terms of services to those who need it. And the argument that these kinds of rules will save the U.S. government money — it is money that we are going to have to pay at a later stage at a higher price because people don't stop getting sick. People simply will get more sick, and then the first time that they will interact with a health care provider will be at the emergency room. And you look at everyone who is here, you look at public advocate, assembly members, state senators, city council people, advocates, the attorney general, all of us have spoken to health care providers who have told us how difficult it is for them to be working in an emergency room and treat it as a primary care doctor, because that is the world that we live in now. And Steve, if you want to add to the legal issue.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThe president and I have an ongoing conversation around immigration policy. We've both been very clear about the fact that we have deep disagreements on that policy, whether it pertains to ICE raids or TPS protections or public charge. This is a disagreement that continues. And the case that I'm making is that this is a rule that will hurt this city. And we all stand here united in our commitment to protecting this city, and we will do everything we can, talk to everyone we can, to ensure that we can actually protect New Yorkers.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThank you. So, I just want to be very clear. My prior remarks were that if people choose to do so, then they are able to because that is the law here in New York City. I continue to leave it to New Yorkers to make their own decisions. When it comes to your question about security clearance, the process of my getting a federal security clearance is ongoing. It's moving within the typical timeline for receiving one. A number of senior administration officials have a security clearance at this time. The NYPD also regularly briefs me on intelligence and investigations that do not involve federally classified information, and we will continue to move forward.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo first what I will say is, like many Americans across the country, the news coming out of this technology in recent days and weeks has been incredibly alarming. We are speaking about reports that, as you said, include suggestions that this could lead to the end of humanity. And whether it's the Hugging Face incident or it's the assertion from one of the heads of Anthropic that these kinds of incidents are occurring at every single AI company, we should be seeing a far greater response from the federal government on this issue, one that has the urgency befitting any conversation around the end of humanity. And in terms of what City government is going to do, we are going to continue to explore all of the avenues we have to protect New Yorkers. When you speak about New Yorkers having their own concerns — recently, we made the decision to ban the use of generative AI from 2K through eighth grade, and that is an ongoing conversation within City government.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceFirst, I just want to underline the importance of the federal government taking this threat seriously. Too much of this conversation has been dominated by concerns of profit or an international arms race and too little about concerns for humanity at large. And we will continue to explore every avenue we have in New York City government, all while knowing that there needs to be greater leadership at the federal level. And then to your first question, what concerns me so deeply is that in a climate where federal immigration officials have shown no interest in law and order, despite that being their stated objective, you have an entire population that spans from those on visas, those with green cards, those with citizenship, those who are simply children of immigrants, being terrified at any and all immigration policies and rule changes. And the decisions that terror and fear not only will lead families to take, but have already led families to take, [are ones] that will change people's lives for the worse for years to come. We're speaking about taking people out of Medicaid, of SNAP, of so many of the things that people rely on because they're lifesaving. And that to me is what is incredibly concerning, that this is, without hyperbole, life or death for so many.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think that the policy that the prior administration took was the correct policy of refusing to defend this in court.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think those allegations are incredibly troubling. And this is the first that I am hearing of them. This is something that I will follow up after this press conference. I continue to believe in the importance of decoupling our response to terror threats from our response to the use of First Amendment rights. And that is a longstanding position and that is one that we will deliver on.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThe disbanding of the Strategic Response Group is something that I would separate out from a conversation around the Office of Community Safety. It is a conversation that I'm having with our police commissioner in a manner that we do it that can respect New Yorkers' rights and keep New Yorkers safe.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo as of yesterday, the latest is that 10 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease within this cluster. One New Yorker has tragically passed away, and we are heartbroken by this loss of life. We are thinking of their loved ones and sending them our condolences. We continue to encourage any New Yorker who has experienced flu-like symptoms — be they cough, fever, difficulty breathing, and that they live or work or have visited the area — to contact a health care provider. In terms of the steps that we have taken, I want to assure New Yorkers we are moving aggressively to contain the spread. The Health Department has sampled all cooling towers in the area. They did so on Thursday within 12 hours of identifying the cluster. The community health outreach workers started to canvass the neighborhood the next day, on Friday. That continued through the weekend, and the initial screening test results were completed. And the orders to clean and disinfect 10 cooling towers were issued on Saturday. By the end of today, all 10 cooling towers will have been fully cleaned and fully disinfected. And what we are doing is — there have been a number of new policies we have implemented, I think, as of about a week or two ago that we have announced. We are always going to keep pushing on the question of what more we can do, because this has been an issue that New Yorkers have had to deal with for far too many years, and we are looking to develop any kind of tool that can help to ensure that Legionnaires’ is something that we're able to combat.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSorry, the beginning of your question, could you say it one more time?
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I will just bring up our commissioner, Dr. Alastair Martin, to speak to additional details of the proactive steps.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani New York City Leads Cities And Counties In Lawsuit Challenging Federal Government's New Public Charge Rule.