NEW YORK (RNS) — New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted his first interfaith breakfast at the New York Public Library’s midtown location on Friday morning (Feb. 6). For this year’s breakfast, local clergy joined the mayor in condemning the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
During the event, Mamdani signed an executive order to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering city property without a judicial warrant.
“ICE is more than a rogue agency. It is a manifestation of the abuse of power,” Mamdani said before signing the document amid applause. “In fact, there is no reforming something so rotten and base.”
Executive Order 13 will also prevent the federal government from accessing New Yorkers’ private data and create an interagency response committee on immigration, the mayor said.
During the traditional breakfast, Mamdani, who began building ties with local faith leaders during his campaign, made clear that he hoped to work with them to implement his affordability agenda and support the city’s immigrant communities amid ICE operations in the city. Throughout the event, speakers drew on various spiritual teachings to urge clergy to defend immigrant communities across the five boroughs.
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During his 20-minute address, Mamdani referenced teachings from the Bible, the Torah and the Bhagavad-Gita, a sacred Hindu text, on the need for the faithful to care for strangers. The mayor, c …