FOX Enterprise’ Lydia Hu joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to report on NYC Socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s $100M migrant protection plan, sparking President Donald Trump’s backlash and criticism.
New York state Assemblyman and New York Metropolis mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani mentioned {that a} “cornerstone” of his marketing campaign is to extend funding for the authorized protection of unlawful immigrants dealing with deportation.
Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who gained the Democratic nomination within the mayoral race, mentioned on MSNBC’s “The Weekend: Primetime” that, “400,000 of our residents are proper now in pressing threat of deportation.”
“A cornerstone of our marketing campaign is to extend funding for these very authorized protection providers by greater than $100 million in order that we are able to guarantee we’re taking each step we are able to to maintain New Yorkers protected, to maintain New Yorkers collectively, and to indicate the world that they’re welcome on this metropolis,” Mamdani mentioned.
New York Metropolis mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s marketing campaign platform requires elevated funding for authorized protection providers for unlawful immigrants. (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon / Reuters)
New York Metropolis’s finances for 2026 contains $54.5 million in funding for immigration providers, together with $41.9 million in free authorized help for unlawful immigrants who’re dealing with deportation and need assistance with advantages.
VOTERS IN MAJOR US CITY VIEW CAPITALISM ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE FAVORABLY THAN SOCIALISM, FOX NEWS POLL FINDS
An extra $12.5 million would go to professional bono legal professionals aiding unaccompanied minor immigrants in elimination hearings, the New York Put up reported.
Mamdani’s marketing campaign calls for reinforcing authorized assist for immigration providers to “present illustration for folks and communities focused by mass deportation.”
His platform requires investing $165 million in funding for immigration authorized protection providers, with a few of that funding put aside for particular packages.
‘NEW YORK DESERVES BETTER:’ MAMDANI REACTS TO ERIC ADAMS EXIT FROM MAYORAL RACE

Mamdani pledged to rent 200 legal professionals for NYC’s authorized division. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
Mamdani’s marketing campaign says that entry to authorized counsel by means of the Speedy Response Authorized Collaborative (RRLC) improves the probabilities of immigrants successful their instances, however underfunding meant that solely 178 folks had been served by this system final 12 months.
The marketing campaign provides that as mayor, he would increase funding for the RRLC from $500,000 to $25 million; enhance funding for the New York Immigrant Household Unit Program from $16 million to $30 million to maintain households collectively; and enhance funding underneath the Immigrant Alternative Initiative from $20 million to $40 million.
He has additionally mentioned he plans to rent 200 legal professionals to return New York Metropolis’s authorized division again to its pre-pandemic ranges.
‘ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK’: RESEARCHER PREDICTS NYC BUSINESS EXODUS IF ZOHRAN MAMDANI WINS

Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and gained the Democratic Occasion’s mayoral major. (Reuters/Bing Guan / Reuters)
Regardless of discovering himself because the frontrunner within the mayoral race, Mamdani’s plan has prompted pushback from some Democratic lawmakers.
“New York is in a fiscal disaster, and Mamdani desires to tear one other $100 million from taxpayers to bankroll deportation protection, rewarding lawbreaking whereas seniors, lecture rooms, sanitation, and public security go with out,” mentioned Council Member Robert Holden, a Democrat from Queens.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
“It spits within the face of each immigrant who performed by the foundations, and I’ll combat this giveaway with every little thing I’ve obtained,” Holden mentioned.