Former Biden administration aide, Bitta Mostofi, known for her advocacy against the use of the term “illegal immigrant” during her time with Bill de Blasio’s team, has been appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to oversee an audit of New York City agencies, including the NYPD, to ensure compliance with sanctuary laws, sources have revealed.
Once a senior official at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Biden, Mostofi has been tasked with leading a comprehensive audit across six key city agencies. This initiative aims to uncover and rectify any existing loopholes, sources informed The Post.
In her new role, Mostofi will act as a special adviser to Dean Fuleihan, the first deputy mayor, as she conducts the audit. This decision comes shortly after President Trump’s threat to cut federal funds to cities maintaining sanctuary policies.
Mostofi explained to Politico, the outlet that broke the news of her appointment, “The aim is to propose changes to the mayor regarding policies and protocols, addressing everything from processes to accountability and transparency.”
The audit will focus on agencies such as the NYPD, the Department of Correction, and the Administration for Children’s Services, as well as the departments of probation, health, and social services, all of which frequently interact with federal immigration authorities.
Under former Mayor Eric Adams, employees at the NYPD and Department of Correction were found to have violated sanctuary policies, which prohibit cooperation with federal immigration agencies like ICE, by providing federal officials with information on migrant detainees, enabling their deportation.
Mostofi accused Adams of weakening city sanctuary policies during his tenure, adding that the audit would address “any lingering sort of questions and confusion or gray area.”
“What we witnessed in the last mayoral administration was frankly an undermining of these laws,” she told Politico.
The audit calls for a report on how each of the city agencies involved handle sanctuary policies, and for solutions to close any loopholes that could allow the feds to work around them, sources said. That report is due on Mamdani’s desk on May 7.
Mostofi was de Blasio’s commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, helping the city battle immigration initiatives during Trump’s first term, before joining the Biden administration.
She called a 2019 White House effort to deny green cards to immigrants likely to end up on state welfare an “assault on the healthcare and well-being” of immigrants. She also supported a 2020 City Council bill to ban the words “alien,” “illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant” from official use by municipal workers — calling each an “offensive and dehumanizing term.”
Mamdani’s audit plan, which Mostofi will helm, emerged on Feb. 6 as part of a broader executive order by the mayor intended to “strengthen protections and accountability” of the city’s longstanding sanctuary policies.
He signed the order after a fiery speech lambasting Trump’s sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, which has seen ICE agents deploying into city’s across the country to conduct sweeping deportation raids.
“Day after day we bear witness to cruelty that staggers the conscience,” Mamdani said while speaking at the Interfaith Breakfast at the New York Public Library.
“We will make it clear once again ICE will not be able to enter New York City property without a judicial warrant. That means our schools, our shelters and our hospitals,” he said of the order.
Trump vowed in January to revoke federal funding for sanctuary cities across the country, saying in a Detroit speech that they “do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens.”
“It breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come. So we’re not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities,” he said.
