New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been asking US President Donald Trump to release detained immigrants. Since securing the release of one detained immigrant in February, he has asked Trump to free nearly two dozen more. But there are fears that his effort could run into obstacles as the influence of Stephen Miller, a hardline supporter of immigration restrictions, grows in the White House.
Despite their political differences, Mamdani has kept up contact with Trump over the release of detained immigrants. Rather than open political confrontation, the New York mayor is trying to use personal contact and talks.
During a meeting with Trump in February, Mamdani raised the case of an immigrant detained in New York. In a phone call with Trump after that meeting, Mamdani learned that the detained person would be released, and the release was later confirmed. Since then Mamdani has asked Trump about nearly two dozen more detained immigrants.
It began with a student’s release
The most notable episode in Mamdani’s effort came on February 26. That day US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Elmina Aghayeva, a student at Columbia University in New York. The student, who came from Azerbaijan, lived in a university residence hall. According to her lawyer and the university, federal agents entered the building saying they were looking for a missing person.
Within hours of Aghayeva’s detention, Mamdani met Trump at the White House. Along with housing construction in New York, he raised the student’s detention at the meeting. Trump later phoned him to say Aghayeva would be released soon. The student was freed the same day.
Citing Mamdani’s spokesperson, news outlets reported that at the meeting he also asked the Trump administration to consider dropping the immigration cases of four more students. They included Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Mohsen Mahdawi and Leqaa Kordia, who were linked to the pro-Palestinian movement.
The cases of pro-Palestinian activists
In 2025, protests against Israel’s military operation in Gaza spread across universities in the United States. The Trump administration began enforcing immigration law against foreign students who took part in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and several other institutions. Some of them were detained, and deportation proceedings were started against some.
The Trump administration argued that their activities raised concerns for US foreign policy and national security. Rights activists and lawyers, on the other hand, said they had been targeted for speaking up for Palestinians and taking part in protests. In their view, such steps interfere with freedom of expression.
At the February meeting Mamdani asked for these four cases to be dropped. Leqaa Kordia, who is of Palestinian origin, was later released on March 16. She had spent more than a year in the custody of immigration authorities. In a statement from the New York mayor’s office, Mamdani said that at his meeting with Trump he had asked for Kordia’s release and for the cases of the other four to be dropped.
Concern over Stephen Miller’s promotion
One of the main reasons for concern about the future of Mamdani’s effort is Stephen Miller’s new role in the White House. On November 6 Trump announced Miller’s appointment as White House chief of staff. Miller had previously served as the administration’s deputy chief of staff for policy. He is known as one of the main architects of Trump’s immigration policy.
Miller has long played a key role in drafting and carrying out the Trump administration’s tough immigration policy. Observers see his promotion as a sign that the administration will keep its hard line on immigration. That raises the question of how fruitful the contact between Mamdani and Trump over the release of detained immigrants will be.
People close to Mamdani fear Miller’s promotion could hamper his efforts. However, the report did not mention any new decision or formal position from the Trump administration on the matter.
Contact despite disagreement
Mamdani and Trump hold sharply different political positions. Mamdani is associated with democratic socialist politics, while Trump is a Republican and a supporter of strict immigration control. They also disagree over immigration raids in New York, federal funding and the powers of the city administration.
Even so, Mamdani has kept up contact with Trump over detained immigrants. He has earlier also called for an end to ICE raids in New York. But not every request has been answered. Last October he held long talks with Trump and Department of Homeland Security officials about releasing a man wounded by ICE officers’ gunfire in New York, but did not succeed.
How far Mamdani’s request for the release of nearly two dozen detained immigrants goes now depends on the Trump administration’s decision. The key question, especially after Miller takes up his new role, is whether there will be any room for flexibility in immigration policy.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report