New York: Award-winning Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair’s son Zohran Mamdani, who is a step away from becoming the first Muslim mayor of New York, will first have to stave off the threat of deportation from the US.
Days after Zohran won the Democratic primary to earn the right to fight for New York City’s mayoral post, Republicans and affiliated groups are seeking a federal investigation into his citizenship status, with some calling for his denaturalisation and deportation.
The bad news for Zohran is that among his biggest critic is President Donald Trump, who described him as a “100% Communist lunatic”.
And amid calls for probe and deportation, Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan issued a stern warning to Zohran, saying that immigration enforcement will “double down and triple down on sanctuary cities.”
Homan further said that if immigration enforcement officials can’t arrest people in jail, they would “find them” in neighbourhoods or work sites.
“So game on, we’re coming,” announced Homan.
The 33-year-old Zohran, an assembly member since 2021, became an American citizen in 2018 after graduating from college.
He has also faced Islamophobic attacks due to his political views and stance on American foreign policy.
Tennessee Republican Congressman Andy Ogles has urged the Trump administration to revoke Zohran’s US citizenship and initiate deportation proceedings.
The New York Young Republican Club, a Manhattan-based group for people aged 18 to 40, has issued a “call to action” appeal on X.
“The radical Zohran Mamdani cannot be allowed to destroy our beloved city of New York,” the club wrote, tagging White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Tom Homan.
The group also urged President Trump to invoke the Red Scare-era Communist Control Act to revoke Mamdani’s citizenship and “promptly deport him.”
Born in Kampala, Uganda, to parents with roots in India, Zohran moved to New York with his family at the age of seven in 1998.
His mother Mira has made cult films like ‘Monsoon Wedding’, ‘The Namesake’ and ‘Mississippi Masala’. Zohran’s father Mahmood Mamdani, is an anthropology professor at Columbia University.
