New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has warned that his administration could take legal action against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), accusing federal agents of using city-owned parking facilities to organise immigration enforcement operations without authorisation.
In a letter sent on Monday to the Trump administration, Mamdani alleged that ICE officers had been assembling at municipal parking lots in Queens and the Bronx since July. One of the locations, he said, is situated beside a preschool.
The mayor maintained that the alleged activities violated a municipal directive prohibiting ICE from using city property for such operations.
“This use of city property in furtherance of federal immigration enforcement is unauthorized and is therefore illegal, endangers city residents and sows fear among those who seek to access city property,” the two-page letter stated.
Mamdani warned that the city would pursue legal remedies if federal agents continued using the facilities without permission.
“If your agents continue any unauthorized use of these lots, New York City will take legal action to prevent this unlawful commandeering of city property,” the letter added.
The correspondence was addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, alongside senior ICE officials in Washington and New York.
The warning marks another development in the growing disagreement between Mamdani and the Trump administration over federal immigration enforcement in New York City.
Tensions between the two sides have intensified following an incident in October when a federal officer shot and injured a Dominican man during an ICE operation in the city.
