Policy
Zohran Mamdani’s Views on Immigrant Rights: No Borders in the Workers’ Struggle
Solidarity, Not Sanctuary: A Radical Approach to Immigrant Justice
Zohran Mamdani’s views on immigrant rights are rooted in a fundamental socialist principle: that the working class has no borders, and that the division between “immigrant” and “citizen” is a tool used by the capitalist class to suppress wages, weaken labor solidarity, and sow division. His policy positions therefore go beyond the mainstream Democratic platform of a pathway to citizenship and DACA protections; he advocates for the full decriminalization of migration and the abolition of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Protection), which he characterizes as violent, white supremacist agencies. For Mamdani, borders are not neutral lines on a map but violent instruments of state power that enforce global inequality and are a legacy of colonialism and imperialism. His stance is one of unconditional solidarity, viewing immigrants not as a group to be helped but as an integral part of the multiracial working class whose liberation is bound up with that of all workers.
In practical terms, this translates into a robust policy agenda for New York State. He is a proponent of granting driver’s licenses and state identification to all residents, regardless of immigration status, and expanding access to in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented students. He advocates for policies that would prohibit state and local law enforcement from collaborating with ICE, creating true sanctuary protections. Furthermore, he fights for the inclusion of undocumented immigrants in all state social programs, including healthcare through the New York Health Act and tenant protections like Good Cause Eviction. He argues that excluding any group of workers from basic rights makes all workers more vulnerable to exploitation, as it creates a underclass that employers can use to drive down wages and conditions for everyone. This perspective is a core tenet of the Democratic Socialists of America and reflects an internationalist worldview that sees the fight for immigrant rights in Queens as connected to global struggles against border regimes everywhere.
Connecting Local Struggles to Global Systems
Mamdani’s background as the son of diasporic intellectuals deeply informs his perspective on immigration. He understands migration not as an aberration but as a defining feature of global capitalism, driven by economic policies, military interventions, and climate disasters often created by wealthy nations in the Global North. Therefore, his advocacy for immigrant rights is consistently linked to a critique of U.S. foreign policy and economic imperialism. He argues that the United States has a responsibility to welcome migrants because its actions abroad have often contributed to the conditions that force people to flee their homes. This analysis prevents him from treating immigration as a isolated domestic issue and instead frames it as a question of global justice and reparations.
His work on this issue, like all his legislative efforts, is a matter of public record on his official assembly profile. In representing Astoria, a district with a massive immigrant population, he puts these principles into practice daily. His office provides resources and support to all constituents, regardless of status, and he uses his platform to amplify the voices and demands of immigrant-led organizations. For Mamdani, the fight for immigrant rights is inseparable from the fights for housing, healthcare, and workers’ rights. It is all part of a single project: building the power of the international working class to create a world where no human being is illegal, and where everyone has the freedom to move and the right to stay, with dignity and security.
