NYC – At Interfaith Breakfast, Mayor Mamdani Signs Executive Order Reaffirming Protections for Immigrants

2026-02-07 - 15:37

New York City’s identity is rooted in spiritual unity and a shared responsibility to care for the most vulnerable, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Friday as he hosted his first official Interfaith Breakfast since taking office in January. Held at the New York Public Library, the gathering brought together faith leaders from across the city to celebrate New York’s religious, cultural, and spiritual diversity, while reinforcing a collective commitment to compassion, solidarity, and justice. During the event, Mamdani signed Executive Order 13, reaffirming the city’s longstanding commitment to sanctuary city principles and strengthening protections for immigrant New Yorkers. The order, which takes effect immediately, establishes updated policies governing how city agencies respond to requests for sensitive personal information and mandates enhanced safeguards for that data, including oversight by chief privacy officers. The directive also reinforces restrictions on federal immigration enforcement on city-owned property, launches a citywide audit to ensure agencies are fully complying with existing sanctuary laws, and creates an interagency coordination committee to manage crisis responses in the event of escalated federal immigration actions or other major emergencies. In tandem with the executive order, Mamdani announced a citywide “Know Your Rights” initiative, distributing nearly 32,000 informational flyers and booklets in 10 languages. Faith leaders were encouraged to share the materials with their congregations. The resources outline key legal protections during encounters with federal immigration authorities, including the right to remain silent, the right to consult an attorney, and the right to interpretation services. “Faith offers us a moral compass to stand alongside the stranger,” Mamdani said, noting that New York’s values are deeply rooted in traditions that call for the protection of the vulnerable. The mayor, the city’s first Muslim, Indian, and African-born leader, drew from religious texts across traditions—quoting from the New Testament’s Epistle to the Hebrews, as well as Exodus and Deuteronomy from the Jewish Torah—to underscore what he described as “defiance through compassion.” “We are called to stand up for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger,” he said, urging faith communities to remain unified in the face of fear and uncertainty. Several Brooklyn-based faith leaders addressed the gathering, including Jennifer Jones Austin, chief executive officer of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies and daughter of the late civil rights leader Rev. William Augustus Jones Jr., who served Bethany Baptist Church for more than four decades. Also speaking was the Rev. Juan Carlos Ruiz, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, who delivered a bilingual Spanish-English message emphasizing solidarity and the moral imperative to defend immigrant families. The interfaith breakfast marked one of Mamdani’s earliest symbolic and policy-driven efforts to align the city’s moral leadership with concrete action, as his administration moves to fortify New York’s role as a refuge for immigrants amid intensifying national immigration debates.