New York City Mayor Gives Immigration-Themed Speech at George Washington’s Desk Ahead of Fourth of July

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered an immigration-themed speech on Friday ahead of Fourth of July weekend. He spoke while seated at George Washington's desk and was flanked by eight recently naturalized U.S. citizens.

Mamdani referenced the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. He described immigrants overcoming federal entry bans, sweatshop fires, and riots aimed at their existence to build lives in New York City. The mayor noted that the same legacy carried millions of Black Americans north during the Great Migration and drew hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans after World War II.

Mamdani stated that his own family arrived when he was seven years old after he was born in Uganda in 1991. He became a naturalized U.S. -Ugandan citizenship. "My family did not arrive by boat, although we saw the Statue of Liberty from the window of the plane," he said.

The mayor criticized wealth distribution in the country. "We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world, one where children go to sleep hungry while the world's first trillionaire hungers for more," Mamdani stated, referring to Elon Musk without naming him. Musk reached the milestone through the SpaceX IPO last month.

Mamdani addressed the concept of American exceptionalism. "The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here nothing is fixed into place," he said. He added that patriotism consists of acts of righteous dissent and that those who love the nation will not leave it.

Mamdani closed the remarks by telling the new citizens they hold the power to determine what America means. "Thank you. God bless America. God bless New York City. And happy Fourth of July," he said.