(Interview) Mayor Eric Adams: “ICE Has Not Been in NYC Schools, Hospitals, Places of Employment, and Worship”

In this interview, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NepYork Editor Suresh Shahi delve into crucial topics for the Nepali immigrant community in NYC, including language access and immigrant protections.

Here are excerpts from the conversation, which have been lightly edited.

The Nepali community in New York City is growing and making great contributions, from running small businesses to working in healthcare, education, and public services. Over the years, the community has become stronger and more visible. But sometimes, growth also brings many challenges. Many Nepali families still face language barriers, limited access to resources, and uncertainty about immigration policies. How do you view the Nepali community in New York, and what challenges do you think they face today?

I agree with your opening. The Nepali community is a community that believes in family, faith, small business, and entrepreneurship, and most importantly, they believe in public safety. So their outlook on what a city should look like is clearly in alignment with what I believe are those areas that are important.

I think it’s a number of things. Number one, there have been many comments and words that make our immigrant communities in general extremely anxious. But when you do a real analysis of what has happened here in this city when it comes to immigration, undocumented people, ICE has not been in our schools, they have not been in our houses of worship, they have not gone to our hospitals or our places of employment.

There have been one or two cases where people were deported when they went to court to carry out their legal process. But for the most part, we have been able to communicate with our federal authorities and tell them it is better not to disrupt the lives of individuals who are doing what’s right, legally participating in the pursuit of the American dream. I know this has concerned the Nepali community. We want to continue to stand with our brothers and sisters from the community. But this is a thriving city, and there’s a place for the men and women from your community and the children in our schools. And we really want to turn down that fear and go on with our lives as much as possible.

So, Mayor Adams, you know, many immigrants right now, including Nepali communities, are worried about the political situation, and sometimes they talk about your relationship with President Donald Trump. They fear what it might mean for immigrant rights. What is your message to these communities, and how are you protecting immigrant New Yorkers at this critical time?

Well, mayors should speak with presidents, and we should understand that. And where we agree, we are going to agree, such as a major wind farm project, Empire Wind Farm, which was going to be closed down. 1,500 union jobs and 500,000 homes would have received power from this wind farm. We were able to convince the White House not to take this multi-billion dollar project away. So when we’re able to agree, we’re going to sit down and speak with the president and come to an understanding.

But there are places we disagree, and where we disagree, we’re going to use the courts to get the overturning of any policy that we believe is harmful. We have taken the White House to court more than any administration in the country, more than any other mayor. And the White House has sued us. We have been sued several times by the White House. We’ve had $80 million clawed back from FEMA. So it has not been all smooth sailing.

But my goal is to not war with the White House, but work with them to get the services that we deserve, to communicate when it comes to civil enforcement, to communicate on what we believe is the wrong thing to do, and coordinate when it comes to criminal enforcement to deal with those who are dangerous and committing serious violent acts, like the Trinitarios gang that was forcing women into prostitution, selling guns and drugs. So there is a real balance here, and we’re going to strike that right balance of fighting for New Yorkers at every turn.

So, what specific protections can immigrant communities count on from your administration at this moment?

To make sure that the city services they pay for, they receive so I always use the example: when you walk into the store and buy a bottle of water, you pay taxes on that bottle of water. No one is asking you what your immigration status is. They’re taking those tax dollars. The symbiotic relationship is that those taxes go to pay for police protection when you need it. It goes for hospital care and emergency rooms when you need it. It goes to educate your children, and it goes to ensure that you can have a productive life in the city because those taxes pay for those items.

So we are going to continue to do just that. We are going to make sure that undocumented children are safe, that they are able to be educated in our schools. Even just with the migrants and asylum seekers alone, we took in 40,000 children and ensured proper education. We’re going to make sure if they are a victim of a crime that they can call the police department and get the assistance they deserve, and any other city service, from ACS to whatever city services they need.

Now, we do that with the understanding that when it comes to enforcement of immigration policies and laws, the constitution solely give that authority to the federal government. Cities don’t control that. So we must use our bully pulpit and our negotiation powers to speak with federal authorities to allow our brothers and sisters that are undocumented to be able to continue their pursuit of the American dream, like just about all of us have been on that pursuit.

Nearly about half of Nepali Americans face challenges with English. In fact, about 85% speak Nepali at home. But even though some city resources are translated, they’re often limited and hard to understand. In this situation, what specific plan does the city have to expand and improve language access for the Nepali-speaking community so that they can use city services without any barriers?

I am really excited about the inroads we’re about to have, and I stumbled onto it by accident. I had a good friend of mine who had a visiting relative from Russia, and they pulled out ChatGPT translation, and we sat there and had a conversation as though we were both fluent in each other’s language. So yesteryear, where you had to call the language line or find someone to interpret your language, those days are over. The city did not keep up with that.

And so we’re going to be rolling out some pilot projects where every school is going to have some form of artificial intelligence language translation. We’re going to make sure our police will also have it. These products are so good now. We need to stop thinking of how it was in yesteryears. There’s no reason a Nepali contractor should not be able to walk into the Department of Buildings, speak, and communicate through some form of either Google Translate, ChatGPT, or any other.

The more we do it, you’re going to see these systems are becoming smarter and smarter. Or a parent that goes to the school, if they don’t speak any English at all, they should be able to go to the principal’s office. That device should be there, and that parent should be able to have an intelligent conversation.

All of our agencies must use these translation devices because if a citizen that pays taxes or non-citizen that pays taxes, they should be able to go into any agency and communicate what resources are available. I’m really excited about this. We’re going to start with the police department, then we’re going to go to the schools, and then we’re going to make sure that every agency in the city is going to have some form of translation device to communicate directly with the citizen.

This is a huge step forward for all of us because you are less likely to go for the services that you deserve because you’re afraid of being embarrassed, humiliated, or not properly articulating to the person who you’re asking the service for. This is a game changer, and I think it’s going to open the doors that many of our non-English-speaking residents are going to feel comfortable going in and speaking. Or some of them may have it on their own devices, and we’re going to encourage that form of communication and translation.

So we can say Nepali speakers might see changes in the near future very soon?

Very, very soon. Within weeks, they’re going to see changes. And I would encourage an education because 85% of people who are in New York and live in New York use some form of cell phone device. I will encourage your listeners to download one of the translation devices, so when you go into an agency, you can speak right into that device, and it will translate. I don’t know if people are fully aware of how great these products have become, and they’re going to continue to get better as time goes on.

Mayor Adams, there are many ethnic media in New York City. It’s a community where different communities live. Talking about the ethnic and community media, they are lifelines for immigrant groups, including Nepalis, but many outlets are struggling at the moment. Even though Local Law 83 requires agencies to spend at least 50% of their ad budget on ethnic media, some outlets are getting little or no support. So, how can the city ensure that advertising dollars are shared more fairly among ethnic and community media outlets so smaller voices are not left behind?

Yes. And you know, we were all a bit spoiled during COVID. During COVID, city marketing was $270 million. What many people didn’t realize is that $200 million of those dollars came from federal dollars. There was only $27 million that came from the city two years later, after the sunsetting of the $200 million that came from the federal government. So we had to rightsize it. But what we have remained focused on is doing just that, contributing dollars to our ethnic media, as the law requires.

And our team there, they have been focused on Local Law 83 to make sure that we could spread as much as possible to our ethnic media. Because it’s so important for me. I think that the ethnic media plays such a vital role in ensuring that all New Yorkers are aware of what the city is providing. Because if you’re not aware of it, you’re being left out, and that is wrong, and that is why we must fight to make sure that we are continuing to do the 50% based on Local Law 83.

Do you have any last short message to  Nepali community in New York City?

Well, you know, Tony Bennett has a song, “He Left His Heart in San Francisco.” I left my heart in Nepal… a beautiful country, beautiful people, the energy. And the only consolation I have is that I am not on the soil of Nepal, but I get to be with the people from Nepal every time I go to visit what I like to believe is the Nepal of America in Queens.