Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly raised serious concerns Tuesday night about New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s decision to post a “know your rights” video aimed at the city’s roughly 3 million migrants.
Speaking on Fox News’s “Hannity,” Noem suggested Mamdani may have crossed a constitutional line by instructing migrants on how to respond if approached by federal immigration officers.
“We’re certainly going after and looking into all of that with coordination of the Department of Justice,” Noem said. She added that Mamdani “could be violating the Constitution by giving advice on how to evade law enforcement and how to get away with breaking the law.”
Mamdani, a Democrat, released the video Monday on X, promising that as mayor he would “protect the rights” of migrants in New York City. The video shows Mamdani telling viewers that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents can be refused entry into a home if they lack a judicial warrant.
He also offered a series of additional reminders, saying people have the right to remain silent, ask whether they are free to go if detained, and film ICE officers so long as they do not interfere with an arrest.
“If ICE does not have a judicial warrant signed by a judge, you have the right to say, ‘I do not consent to entry,’ and the right to keep your door closed,” he said. Mamdani acknowledged, however, that individuals may not impede an investigation.
Noem did not specify what legal provisions Mamdani may have violated, but she said the conduct raised red flags. Her warning echoes criticisms made by Trump administration officials years earlier, after six Democratic lawmakers produced a video reminding service members that they have a legal obligation to refuse unlawful orders. At the time, President Trump claimed the lawmakers’ message amounted to “seditious behavior from traitors” and even wrote that such conduct was “punishable by DEATH!” The White House later clarified that the president did not wish to see the lawmakers executed, but federal investigators nonetheless opened a probe, prompting the six Democrats to defend their actions.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, one of the lawmakers involved in that earlier video, argued that reminding Americans of basic legal rights is not unlawful. “The president directing the FBI to target us is exactly why we made this video in the first place,” she said. Slotkin accused Trump of using “legal harassment as an intimidation tactic, to scare people out of speaking up.”
Now, years later, Noem’s comments suggest a similar dynamic may be unfolding around Mamdani’s guidance to migrants—guidance conservatives argue tips into encouraging defiance of federal authority at a time when immigration enforcement is already strained.
While Mamdani cast his message as one of civil protections, Noem framed it as undermining the rule of law. How the Justice Department responds to the situation remains to be seen, but Noem made clear it is now under review.
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