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Federal judge rules Mamdani administration must give ICE names of Bronx shelter residents
By
Willow Higgins
Published Nov 7, 2026 at 4:49 p.m. ET
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Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
By
Willow Higgins
Published Nov 7, 2026 at 4:49 p.m. ET
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A federal judge has ruled that the Mamdani administration has to give immigration officials the names and birthdays of certain people living in a large, city-run homeless shelter in the Bronx.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement claims they need the information as part of an investigation into residents that may be subject to deportation. But City Hall, which has barred city agencies from cooperating with ICE, has fought the subpoena in court and advocates are urging Mamdani to keep up the fight.
The mayor’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment Saturday.
“The City has not shown that producing this list would be unduly burdensome,” the ruling by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan reads. “Under the applicable case law, the Court therefore has no choice but to compel the subpoena’s enforcement.”
The ruling requires the city to turn over a list of certain male residents that live in a shelter on Bruckner Boulevard along with their birthdays and any additional records that would help ICE identify the people who live there.
ICE had asked for the names of all the residents, but under Friday's ruling, the agency has appointed a special master to identify only residents with “serious criminal histories,” according to the ruling.
The shelter is a converted warehouse in the South Bronx that sleeps more than 2,000 and is the city’s last emergency migrant housing facility. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in February he plans to phase out the shelter by the end of the year.
Friday’s ruling comes after several failed attempts by the federal government to file similar subpoenas. Beginning in August 2025, ICE submitted four separate subpoena requests for personal information about residents of New York City shelters and the city fought them.
The city called a previous request a “fishing expedition lacking any legitimate investigative purpose,” according to the ruling.
The New York Immigration Coalition, which represents more than 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, is calling for the latest order to be appealed.
What “ICE has been trying to do for some time now is continuously launch these horrible campaigns of mass deportation against our community members,” said Murad Awawdeh, the president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition.
“ We believe that the city must appeal and that City Hall and Albany must act also on the simple principle of making sure they are also protecting everyone that's in their care.”
Awawdeh said that the city should not have to comply with the order because of the city’s sanctuary law policies, which limit cooperation between local government and ICE.
“Providing data on civil immigration enforcement…that's illegal as per our local law,” Awawdeh said.
Tagged
Politics
immigration
new york city
public safety
Willow Higgins
Willow Higgins covers changes in New York City neighborhoods for WNYC and Gothamist. She has previously reported on wrongful convictions, corruption in district attorney offices and Texas' child welfare system.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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