Mamdani: Abolishing ICE is the most ‘acceptable’ part of DSA platform to ‘mainstream America’

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) said that of all the platform items belonging to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), of which he is a member, the most “acceptable part” for “mainstream America” is abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Mamdani appeared on “Fox News Sunday” for an interview recorded Wednesday night with Shannon Bream, who pointed to various DSA policy items that Americans may not favor. She asked what part of the platform the mayor thinks is acceptable to mainstream Americans.

“Look, I think the thing that is most acceptable to mainstream America is abolishing ICE and making sure we have humanity back in our immigration enforcement,” Mamdani said. “And the thing that has been offered as a part of a litany of policy platforms that I would reject is after last night, why would we abolish the Senate?”

Mamdani referred to several candidates who he said that “no matter how they describe themselves,” they ran “on policies that would transform working people’s lives.” He referred to Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-Texas), Sen.-elect Annie Andrews (D-S.C.) and Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) as examples.

Bream ran through other DSA policy proposals with the mayor, including the abolition of the Supreme Court, prisons and borders, all of which Mamdani said “no” to.

“So, do you think DSA’s going to kick you out?” she asked the mayor as he smiled back. “It sounds like you’re not aligned with some of the core things they really want to get done.”

“No. You know, when you go into a room and there are more than one socialist in the room, you will often find disagreement in that room,” he replied. “And what unites members of the Democratic Socialists of America is, in many ways, what has brought people into politics over the years –– a belief in the dignity of working class people and the dignity that has to be a characteristic of their lives.”

He said that the work that goes into democracy must be “meaningful” and does not end at the ballot box but for “the rest of our lives, from the workplace to every other aspect of it.”

Democratic socialist candidates made major victories across the country, including with two more mayoral victories like Mamdani’s. Mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George (D) will become Washington, D.C.’s next mayor , and DSA member and Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman (D) will become the City of Angels’s next mayor, defeating incumbent Mayor Karen Bass (D).

Democratic candidates have also targeted ICE as they campaigned this past year, overwhelmingly criticizing President Trump’s immigration crackdown and his deportation agenda. They have vowed to use their power in Congress to restrain ICE, potentially withholding future funding and becoming an authority to conduct oversight on the agency.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, however, vowed last Wednesday to continue deporting those detained by ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.