Jon Levine writes for the Washington Free Beacon about the latest bad news surrounding New York City’s new mayor.
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s (D.) transition team includes a man whose organization is under congressional investigation for allegedly teaching illegal aliens how to evade ICE officers, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Mamdani named Wayne Ho, who has served as president and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) nonprofit since 2017, to his Committee on Social Services last month. The House Committee on Homeland Security opened an investigation into CPC in April based on a video showing a member of CPC’s leadership “explaining strategies for avoiding and potentially impeding immigration officials during a seminar in New York,” according to a letter from then-committee chairman and former congressman Mark Green (R., Tenn.).
Green wrote that the committee was “deeply concerned that CPC and other NGOs that receive taxpayer dollars may be advising or training illegal aliens on strategies to avoid cooperation with immigration officials.” Though Green no longer leads the committee, a staff member confirmed to the Free Beacon that the investigation is ongoing.
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R., N.Y.), who has served as chairman since July, told the Free Beacon in a statement that he and the rest of the Committee on Homeland Security plan to hold those who work to impede ICE’s mission accountable.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that the incoming mayor is providing a platform to an individual who is associated with an organization that has reportedly worked to undermine law enforcement,” Garbarino said. “I encourage the mayor-elect to stick to his recent promise to support law enforcement, particularly given his past statements to the contrary. The Committee will continue conducting oversight of the rise in anti-law enforcement sentiment as it continues to threaten those on the frontlines of the homeland security mission.”
