Nation Prayer Breakfast co-chairs find ‘Common Ground’
Reps. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., and Ben Cline, R-Va., co-chairs of the National Prayer Breakfast, discuss the leaders’ gathering and the idea of an event to promote faith and friendship in a ‘Special Report.’
NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
At his first annual interfaith breakfast on Friday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani created the status of a New York City sanctuary as part of a religious call to welcome “the stranger,” invoking the Bible, the Quran, and the Bhagavad Gita to defend the city’s immigration policy.
In a speech to about 400 religious and community leaders at the New York Public Library, Mamdani accused federal transportation officials of reigniting “the fear of our neighbors” and committing “cruelty that disturbs the conscience.”
“They came as if riding a pale horse, leaving a trail of debris as they followed,” he said. “People ripped from their cars. Guns pulled on the unarmed. Families torn apart. Lives torn apart—quietly, quickly, brutally. If this isn’t an attack on a stranger among us, what is?”
Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, during a Bloomberg Television interview at City Hall in New York, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
MAMDANI CLARIFIES NYC WILL NOT REVIEW STATUS OF ALL CHILD CARE ENROLLERS
Mamdani spoke of her mixed-faith upbringing with a Muslim father and Hindu mother to highlight religious diversity in New York City and argue that various religions, from Christianity to Islam, instruct believers to protect the “stranger.”
He cited passages from the Torah and the book of Deuteronomy about “loving the stranger,” and the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, to encourage New Yorkers to respond to “the suffering of others” as if it were “our own.”
“I think of Exodus 23:9, the words of the Torah: ‘Do not oppress the stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger, as you were strangers in the land of Egypt,'” said Mamdani before praising the Jews of New York for standing “close to the persecuted.”
He also quoted the Buddhist teaching about getting rid of desire, hatred and ignorance in order to find freedom from suffering.
Protesters take over the lobby of a New York City hotel to protest ICE. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON ISSUES ICE ‘NOTICE’ IN EXECUTIVE ORDER DEMANDS AGENCIES PROSECUTED
Moving on to his faith, Mamdani described Islam as a religion “built on the issue of migration,” noting that the Prophet Muhammad was “again a stranger” who fled persecution to find a home in Medina.
“Sura An-Nahl 16:42 tells us: ‘As for those who migrate for the sake of Allah after being persecuted, We will certainly bless them with a good home in this world,'” he quoted. “Or, as the Prophet Muhammad (SWT) said: ‘Islam began as strange and will return to being strange, glad tidings to strangers.’
“If faith gives us a compass to stand next to someone we don’t know,” said Mamdani, “the government can give us resources.”
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, New York City. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS AND CULTURE
At this event, the mayor also signed Executive Order 13, which affirms and strengthens New York City’s commitment to sanctuary laws, and prohibits federal agents from entering city buildings without a warrant.
He also announced a new “Know Your Rights” campaign that will distribute 32,000 flyers and brochures in 10 languages to religious leaders in the city to share with immigrants in their congregations.
Mamdani also paid tribute to activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti who were killed during a confrontation with ICE and Border Patrol in Minneapolis last month, calling them examples of those who “care for the stranger” with great sacrifice.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
