Mamdani braced for US reentry confrontation after deportation calls from GOP
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's campaign prepared for possible trouble at John F. Kennedy airport as he returned Wednesday from a vacation in Uganda.
What happened: Mamdani left for Uganda on July 20 to celebrate his recent marriage to Rama Duwaji with family. He returned Wednesday morning, and amid concerns over potential issues, passed through the U.S. Customs without incident.
'I did not have issues getting through customs, though I was prepared for the potential of those issues,' he told reporters. 'This is a sad reality of living in our president's United States.' The 33-year-old Queens assemblyman, who calls himself a democratic socialist, has lived in the U.S. since age 7 and became a citizen in 2018.
How they prepared: Mamdani's campaign reportedly stayed in touch with Gov. Kathy Hochul and Atty. Gen. Letitia James' offices, which both pledged assistance in the event immigration officials detained Mamdani.
Trending on NextShark:
These precautions follow attacks from Republican officials such as Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles, who argued on social media that he 'needs to be DEPORTED' while calling him 'little muhammad [sic].' President Donald Trump, for his part, has not explicitly called for Mamdani's deportation but has made statements casting doubt on his citizenship. 'A lot of people are saying he's here illegally. We're going to look at everything,' Trump told reporters on July 1.
Why this matters: Mamdani's absence came amid New York's deadliest mass shooting in 25 years that killed four victims Monday, including NYPD officer and fellow Muslim Didarul Islam. His adviser, Morris Katz, reportedly woke him at 4 a.m. in Uganda to alert him of the incident.
Speaking to CNN, Mamdani said he went directly from Kennedy airport to Islam's home in Parkchester, where his family 'refused to let me leave until I had breakfast with them.' At Wednesday's press conference with Smith Etienne, brother of security guard Aland Etienne — another shooting victim — and union leaders, scrutiny intensified over Mamdani's past statements on defunding the police, including 'We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD.' He has also defended eliminating the NYPD's Strategic Response Group, which responded to Monday's shooting.
Trending on NextShark:
Despite the controversy, Mamdani maintains his lead in recent polls, including 50% support in a Zenith Research and Public Progress Solutions poll released this week.
This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices.
Trending on NextShark:
Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community.
Subscribe here now!
Trending on NextShark:
Download the NextShark App:
Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why the market is shrugging off Trump's firing of the BLS chief
Trump fired the head of the BLS on Friday, but so far, markets have looked past the shock decision. Sources say there are a variety of other sources investors can use to assess the employment picture. Strong earnings and higher rate-cut odds are powering stocks higher on Monday. August kicked off with a shocker, with Donald Trump firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after a less-than-rosy July employment report. The move sparked prognostications about untrustworthy government data going forward and comparisons to China, which some believe is uninvestable due to issues with data quality. Then why is the market unfazed as trading kicks off on Monday? Stocks rallied to start the week, with the Dow up almost 500 points at midday and the Nasdaq Composite jumping as much as 2%. For now, markets are focused on other things, like the higher odds of a September rate cut after the employment picture suddenly soured. "Obviously, the firing was unconventional. That's pretty much everything with this administration compared to previous administrations, but at this point, there is so much private data that the market can look at other sources," Paul Hickey, cofounder of Bespoke Investment Group, told Business Insider. Apart from the BLS statistics that investors already parse, there's a patchwork of private and public data, including ADP data, hiring and firing data from a range of consulting firms, and labor market sentiment indicators from sources like the Conference Board. "There are private sources of data, and if they are moving in the opposite direction from the government data, then it becomes an indicator that something is off with the statistics,"Aleksandar Tomic, Associate Dean, Strategy, Innovation, & Technology at Boston College, told Business Insider. Trump said Erika McEntarfer's firing was justified and that the July data had been manipulated to make the administration look bad. He did not offer evidence for this claim, though White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said the revisions in the data are "hard evidence." The July revisions were substantial, showing that the US added nearly 260,000 fewer jobs in May and June than had been initially reported. Trump and Republicans have also criticized earlier revisions, including last year's that showed over 800,000 fewer jobs added in the 12 months leading up to March 2024. The irony of Trump's anger over the July jobs numbers is that the weak report has pushed up the odds of the September rate cut to nearly 90%, getting the president closer to seeing the Fed loosen monetary policy as he's been demanding all year. But for investors, things like the robust GDP report for the second quarter and solid corporate earnings, particularly among mega-cap tech giants, are boosting the outlook for the market even as Trump's move stirs some uncertainty. For Sergio Altomare, a former senior enterprise architect at the Fed, the next big question is who will replace McEntarfer at the helm of the BLS. "I think the ultimate impact is going to take time to sort itself out, but I think really the immediate thing is, who gets appointed? What is their background? What does the data show? Is it dramatically different from what we're seeing?" Altomare said that it will be difficult to properly assess the impact of Trump's decision on financial markets until these questions have clear answers. Luckily for markets, some answers could come soon. Trump has said that in the coming days, he'll nominate a new BLS chief, as well as a replacement for Fed Gov. Adriana Kugler, who resigned on Friday. Both positions require confirmation by the Senate. It is also worth noting that some agree with the president's decision. For his part, investing legend Ray Dalio said on Monday that he, too, would probably fire the BLS chief. In a post on X, he described the agency's process for making key economic estimates as "obsolete and error-prone," with no plan to fix it. "The revisions brought the numbers toward private estimates that were in fact much better," Dalio said. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Alaska Sen. Murkowski toys with bid for governor, defends vote supporting Trump's tax breaks package
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, speaking with Alaska reporters Monday, toyed with the idea of running for governor and defended her recent high-profile decision to vote in support of President Donald Trump's tax breaks and spending cuts bill. Murkowski, speaking from Anchorage, said 'sure' when asked if she has considered or is considering a run for governor. She later said her response was 'a little bit flippant' because she gets asked that question so often. 'Would I love to come home? I have to tell you, of course I would love to come home,' she said. 'I am not making any decisions about anything, because my responsibility to Alaskans is my job in the Senate right now.' Several Republicans already have announced plans to run in next year's governor's race, including Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy is not eligible to seek a third consecutive term. Alaska has an open primary system and ranked choice voting in general elections. Murkowski is not up for reelection until 2028. A centrist, Murkowski has become a closely watched figure in a sharply divided Congress. She has at times been at odds with her party in her criticism of Trump and blasted by some GOP voters as a 'Republican in name only.' But her decision to support Trump's signature bill last month also frustrated others in a state where independents comprise the largest number of registered voters. She previously described her decision-making process around the bill as 'agonizing.' On Monday, she said it was clear to her the bill was not only a priority of Trump's but also that it was going to pass, so it became important to her to help make it as advantageous to the state as she could. 'So I did everything within my power — as one lawmaker from Alaska — to try to make sure that the most vulnerable in our state would not be negatively impacted,' she said. 'And I had a hard choice to make, and I think I made the right choice for Alaskans.'
Fox News
14 minutes ago
- Fox News
Gov. Newsom vows to fight fire with fire if Texas lawmakers pass legislation regarding redistricting
Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to fight fire with fire if Texas lawmakers pass legislation regarding redistricting.
