Overview:
As Haitian New Yorkers put together to forged their ballots within the 2025 NYC mayoral election, The Haitian Instances requested main candidates about their immigration platforms and sanctuary metropolis commitments. This is the place they stand.
NEW YORK—As New York Metropolis heads right into a pivotal 2025 mayoral election, the way forward for protections for the town’s 3 million immigrants, who make up 38% of the town’s inhabitants, has taken heart stage. With incumbent Mayor Eric Adams vowing to cooperate with the Trump administration’s deportation effort, immigrant communities are reeling from ICE raids in services as soon as deemed protected. Among the many estimated 90,000 Haitian-born, anxiousness is especially excessive for family members granted TPS or humanitarian parole, each of which the federal government now considers unlawful.
Candidates are providing completely different approaches on how one can hold New York a protected haven as native help turns into extra inconsistent and the federal authorities strikes to focus on Democratic-led states. The Haitian Instances spoke with 5 candidates—Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani, Zellnor Myrie and Scott Stringer—to study the place they stand on immigration, ICE cooperation and sanctuary metropolis insurance policies certain to have an effect on Haitian households.
Adrienne Adams: “I’ll proceed to battle Donald Trump in court docket”
Present Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has staked out one of the combative stances towards federal overreach. Talking with The Haitian Instances, Adams emphasised her refusal to weaken NYC’s sanctuary metropolis legal guidelines, even below stress from Mayor Eric Adams.
“He desires to work with Donald Trump to convey ICE again to Rikers Island, which is appalling to me,” Adams mentioned. “I licensed a lawsuit to dam that government order. As mayor, I’ll proceed to battle Donald Trump at each flip in terms of our immigrant communities.”
She famous that immigrant anxiousness isn’t hypothetical. Companies in Flatbush have seen foot visitors drop as fears rise. Her marketing campaign presents immigrant safety as a matter of each human rights and financial stability.
Brad Lander: “We will’t have ICE in our colleges, hospitals or shelters”
Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander invoked historic and ethical arguments in protection of NYC’s sanctuary insurance policies, citing statistics that just about half of all New Yorkers dwell in mixed-status households.
“We will’t have ICE in our colleges, in our hospitals, in our shelters,” Lander mentioned. “We’d like a mayor who will stand as much as bullies. Eric Adams is working an experiment in essentially the most humiliating capitulation to Donald Trump.”
Lander co-sponsored the town’s sanctuary legal guidelines and says his report, from monetary oversight to transparency in procurement, proves he’s able to defend immigrant New Yorkers from federal retaliation.
Zohran Mamdani: “[Enforce] the legal guidelines we’ve got to disclaim entry to ICE
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani helps New York Metropolis’s sanctuary standing, calling it a long-standing, bipartisan coverage that “has really lowered crime over time.”
He criticized Mayor Eric Adams for stoking worry, saying, “What our mayor’s cowardice and collaboration has carried out is result in so many Haitian New Yorkers having to dwell in worry.”
Mamdani pointed to present regulation that limits ICE cooperation to circumstances involving 170 critical crimes, and emphasised that metropolis leaders should defend—not undermine—these protections, particularly for immigrant communities like Brooklyn’s Little Haiti. Mamdani pledged to ascertain a fee to make sure full compliance with sanctuary metropolis legal guidelines throughout all metropolis companies and contractors.
Zellnor Myrie: “No pointless cooperation with ICE”
State Senator Zellnor Myrie helps streamlining metropolis help providers for asylum seekers, together with protections towards federal detainers. Saying that the Trump administration is on a broader mission to roll again civil rights, he sees the deportation efforts as a check that requires leaders to face up and battle again. His ‘New York for All’ invoice within the state legislature “would shield authorities establishments and never require pointless cooperation with ICE” making an attempt to enter buildings.
“What makes our metropolis nice, our secret sauce is our variety… We ought to be defending on this second, not cowering, not being silent, however stepping up and being very loud in our advocacy to make sure you could proceed to be who you might be,” Myrie instructed The Haitian Instances.
Scott Stringer: “Give the federal authorities no factors of entry”
Former NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer mentioned the town should stand agency in defending immigrant households from federal overreach, particularly below a possible second Trump presidency.
“Whenever you’re a New Yorker and also you hit our soil, the mayor has to have your again,” Stringer instructed The Haitian Instances.
He proposed a $1 billion emergency fund to defend vital providers from federal cuts and condemned leaders who “use immigrants as a bullying tactic.” Stringer vowed to defend immigrant communities by means of authorized motion, strategic planning, and ethical management.
Andrew Cuomo: “Trump can’t win a battle with me as mayor of New York”
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, the main candidate, didn’t reply to repeated interview requests. In current public boards, Cuomo has vowed to defend immigrants.
“We’re going to defend the legal guidelines of this sanctuary metropolis,” Cuomo mentioned in a candidate debate. “Donald Trump solely picks fights that he can win. He can’t win a battle with me as mayor of New York.”
On his Instagram, Cuomo additionally posted, “When I’m mayor, ICE brokers won’t unfold worry in our metropolis, tearing households aside and separating kids from their dad and mom. I’ll rise up for every New Yorker. I all the time have and I all the time will.”