New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has confirmed that all children in the city, including those who are undocumented, will be eligible for free childcare under the city’s universal programmes.
Speaking during a media roundtable, the socialist-Democrat said the initiative covers children under five years old and stressed that these are not programs that are going to ask about the immigration status of any of the children or their parents.
Referring to undocumented children, he said: “All of those children are New Yorkers. They should all be enrolled in pre-K and 3-K no matter where they were born and where they come from.”
The universal childcare pilot will initially offer no-cost services for children under the age of two in high-need neighbourhoods. The eligibility is based on residency and age rather than income or citizenship. This is aimed at ensuring children are not excluded from early education and allows parents to continue working.
However, one major concern was that the policy uses taxpayer money to help undocumented immigrants, questioning its cost, capacity, and fairness. The city has stated that the programme will expand gradually, with long-term funding and rules still under discussion.
Mamdani is keen on making the policy a bigger part of New York and its families. He said, “This is one example of a city program that we are encouraging everyone to apply to, to see themselves as a part of and to know that we are going to use every single law that we have here to protect the health and safety of everyone who signs up.”
The mayor also spoke about other goals for the city, citing a plan with New York governor Kathy Hochul to ensure “every New Yorker could afford a life of dignity and every family could afford to raise their kids.”
Mamdani’s announcement comes amid heightened national attention on immigration enforcement by federal agencies. Earlier this month, a five-year-old child in Minneapolis was briefly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Trump administration, including VP JD Vance defended the action, saying ICE was responding to the child’s father, who was an illegal alien and had allegedly fled.
