Mamdani becomes MAGA's immigrant bogeyman
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Photo Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images and Anadolu via Getty Images.
The Trump administration wants to make Zohran Mamdani, the Uganda-born Muslim who'll be New York City's next mayor, the public face for its case against legal immigration.
Why it matters: Republicans aren't just making immigration tougher. They're also sowing fear that Mamdani's popularity will ripple through other American cities with big immigrant populations.
- "Import communists, become communists," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted before Tuesday's election. He shared a poll showing Mamdani was winning a majority of foreign-born voters.
- "What we don't want to see is more Dearborns," said Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, referring to the first Arab-majority city in the U.S. It's represented by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a first-generation Palestinian American.
- Republicans also are singling out Minneapolis, where Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a naturalized citizen from Somalia, represents the city in Congress. "What we don't want to see are more 100% Somalian communities that actually are Islamist and Marxist," Roberts told Axios.
The big picture: MAGA's crackdown on legal immigration will "disproportionately limit people from third world countries, which obviously are not comprised of white people," said former Trump Homeland Security official Mike Howell, who now runs the Oversight Project.
- Howell said it's time for conservatives to stop fixating on "legal good and illegal bad" and start focusing on assimilation.
Zoom in: The U.S. has slashed refugee admissions from 100,000 slots in President Biden's last year to 7,500 (mostly for white South Africans) in 2026.
- The citizenship test will be getting more difficult, with stricter enforcement of English language proficiency for immigrants.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is screening for "good character," which now looks for community involvement and contributions to the U.S. and ties to the country, among other factors.
- Non-immigrant visas (for temporary travel), particularly from African countries, and H1B visas (for work), primarily awarded to Indians, have become more expensive and harder to get.
Between the lines: The Trump administration is also looking to denaturalize (stripping citizenship) some new Americans, with cases already sent for Justice Department review.
- Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) penned a public letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking her to investigate Mamdani's citizenship application for possible denaturalization. His charge is echoed by Republican colleague Randy Fine (R-Flo.) and right wing online influencers.
- The New York Young Republicans also sold t-shirts that read "Deport Zohran" during the campaign.
Zoom out: President Trump has questioned Mamdani's citizenship (he was naturalized in 2018) and repeatedly claimed that Mamdani is a communist. Mamdani is a democratic socialist, not a communist.
- Trump used a similar line of attack when he falsely claimed for years that former President Obama wasn't born in the U.S. and was not eligible to be president.
- Trump also suggested on numerous occasions that Omar, who became a citizen at 17, should "go back" to Somalia.
The bottom line: Mamdani addressed some of Trump's attacks during his victory speech on Tuesday, promising "a shining city for all."
- "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants — and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant," he said.
- "So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us."
