Council Member Vickie Paladino has stood by controversial comments calling for the deportation of Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani after several Queens elected officials rebuked the Republican Council Member for “xenophobic” comments.
Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and a candidate in the mayoral election, said Tuesday that Paladino’s comments were a reflection of “Donald Trump’s authoritarian administration” after Paladino questioned Mamdani’s pathway to US citizenship in a post on X on Monday night.
Quoting a post from October 2019, Paladino highlighted that Mamdani had stated he was unable to vote in the 2016 presidential election because he was not yet a U.S. citizen. Paladino argued that it is “insane” for someone who has not been a citizen for ten years to seek major public office and went on to call for Mamdani’s deportation.
“Let’s just talk about how insane it is to elect someone to any major office who hasn’t even been a US citizen for ten years, much less a radical leftist who actually hates everything about the country and is here specifically to undermine everything we’ve ever been about. Deport,” Paladino wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a subsequent post, Paladino described Mamdani’s path to citizenship as “sketchy to say the least.”
On Tuesday, Paladino posted a photograph of a t-shirt bearing the slogan “Deport Zohran” alongside the caption “New Merch Drop?”
Mamdani condemned the comments in a statement Tuesday, stating that calls for his deportation go far beyond inflammatory language.
“This isn’t just hateful rhetoric — it’s a reflection of what happens when Donald Trump’s authoritarian administration is allowed to shove New Yorkers into unmarked vehicles, tear our communities apart and spit in the face of the Constitution,” Mamdani said in a statement, referencing ICE raids in New York City during the Trump administration.
Mamdani also said he has faced death threats and Islamophobic attacks targeting his family since announcing his candidacy for mayor.
Several elected officials across Queens and New York City, including Mamdani’s opponents in the ongoing mayoral race, have also criticized Paladino for the comments.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos, for example, described Paladino’s comments as xenophobic, adding that “real New Yorkers” celebrate diversity.
“Real New Yorkers reject xenophobia and celebrate our diversity. Immigrants deliver our food, build our homes, help us raise our children, tend to our parents—and yes, some run for office. That’s not a threat. That’s the United States of America,” Ramos said, quoting Paladino’s post.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, another candidate for mayor, said Paladino’s comments have “no place in our city,” describing the rhetoric as “dangerous and unacceptable.”
“Council Member Paladino should remember that she was elected to represent every resident of her Council District and has a responsibility to her constituents and this city to represent them all,” Adams said.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo also criticized Paladino’s comments, stating that the “Republicans’ answer to everything, including the common cold, is deportation,” according to New York Times journalist Emma Fitzsimmons.
Mayor Eric Adams stated that he would not specifically condemn Paladino’s comments and called on everyone to “tone down” their rhetoric.
Former City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who is also running for mayor, said calls to deport an elected official “because you disagree with him” is dangerous rhetoric. He also described Paladino’s comments as “un-American” and called on her to apologize.
“Vickie Paladino should apologize—and New York Republicans should denounce her shameful and hateful rhetoric. More and more, Republicans’ response to disagreement is deportation. It’s absurd and horrifying,” Stringer said in a post on X.
Paladino, however, released a statement standing by her comments.
She noted that Mamdani has “clearly achieved US citizenship and is not eligible for deportation,” but said the “fact remains” that he would have been removed from the US before obtaining his citizenship under the Trump Administration.
Paladino said Mamdani has founded a chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organization, which she labeled as a “Hamas-adjacent” group that disseminates “terror propaganda.” Mamdani is a co-founder of the Bowdoin College chapter of the organization.
There is no direct evidence of any financial or organizational ties between SJP and Hamas, although critics have accused the organization of antisemitic language and rhetoric that mimics that of Hamas.
Paladino criticized Mamdani for failing to disavow SJP and said his mayoral campaign underscored the “crucial need” of the Trump Administration’s deportation program.
“Zohran Mamdani and his supporters are a plague on our politics,” Paladino wrote in a statement. “His radical agenda, laced with antisemitism, Marxism, and anti-Americanism, has gained traction with the very segment of our city that’s been responsible for years of chaos and violence against our Jewish community.”
Paladino said her office has been “inundated” with threats from Mamdani supporters since she called for Mamdani’s deportation in the original post on Monday night, stating that she now has police stationed at her office and her home for her protection.
Some elected officials described Paladino as un-American for calling for Mamdani’s deportation, including State Sen. Mike Gianaris, who accused Paladino of “clowning herself” with her original post.
“If the standard is deporting citizens who hate America, I nominate you for deportation since you hate free speech, due process and immigrants,” Gianaris wrote on X.
Council Member Tiffany Cabán, meanwhile, described calls for Mamdani’s deportation as “straight out of the fascist playbook,” adding that Paladino’s comments were “disgusting.”
“A GOP Council Member called to deport Zohran Mamdani. Zohran is a US citizen and duly elected official. Threatening political opponents with deportation is straight out of a fascist playbook. It’s how hateful cowards respond to a multi-racial, working class movement. Disgusting,” Cabán wrote.
State Sen. Julia Salazar, representing District 18 in Northern Brooklyn, described Paladino’s comments as “heinous,” “shameful,” and “unconstitutional.”
“Didn’t you take your oath of office to uphold the Constitution?” Salazar stated.
