New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has launched a legal challenge against the Trump administration's new public-charge rule, as a separate controversy continues over a video showing him briefly smiling while greeting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during a 9/11 commemoration ceremony.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday, 14 September 2026, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenges a federal rule due to take effect on Friday, 18 September. The regulation gives Department of Homeland Security officers broader discretion when assessing whether people seeking admission to the US or adjustment of status are likely to become a public charge.