Jihad Mamdani Appoints Terror Group CAIR Staffer as NYC Chief Immigration Officer

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Mamdani appoints former CAIR staffer as NYC Chief Immigration Officer

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Faiza Ali, a former Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) employee, as New York City’s Chief Immigration Officer.

CAIR operates a nationwide network of advocacy… pic.twitter.com/clcmBOAk3W

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 19, 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Faiza Ali — a former staffer for the designated terrorist group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — as the city’s new Chief Immigration Officer.

CAIR operates a nationwide network of advocacy and political entities involved in stealth jihad, lobbying, lawfare, terror funding, and electoral politics.

The organization has faced years of terrorism-related controversy and federal scrutiny. It has drawn criticism for statements following the October 7 attacks and has a long record of antisemitic rhetoric.

In 2025, the governors of Texas and Florida designated CAIR a foreign terrorist organization at the state level.

• CAIR was identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as an unindicted co-conspirator in United States v. Holy Land Foundation, the largest terrorism-financing case in U.S. history.

• Evidence admitted at trial established that CAIR emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood’s U.S. Palestine Committee, a Hamas support network.

• The Muslim Brotherhood “Civilization-Jihad” memorandum, entered into evidence, explicitly described the mission of Brotherhood-linked “legal” organizations in the U.S. as destroying Western civilization from within — language you quoted accurately.

• CAIR’s founders and leadership (Omar Ahmad, Nihad Awad) were present at or tied to the 1993 Philadelphia Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood planning meeting secretly recorded by the FBI.

• Federal prosecutors and the trial judge refused to strike CAIR’s co-conspirator designation, finding the evidentiary record fully supported it.

• The FBI formally severed outreach and cooperation with CAIR because of unresolved evidence linking it to Hamas.

• CAIR functions as a political, legal, and media front organization advancing Islamist objectives aligned with Hamas ideology while operating inside U.S. legal protections.

• The Muslim Brotherhood “Civilization-Jihad” memorandum, entered into evidence, explicitly described the mission of Brotherhood-linked “legal” organizations in the U.S. as destroying Western civilization from within — language you quoted accurately.

• CAIR’s founders and leadership (Omar Ahmad, Nihad Awad) were present at or tied to the 1993 Philadelphia Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood planning meeting secretly recorded by the FBI.

• Federal prosecutors and the trial judge refused to strike CAIR’s co-conspirator designation, finding the evidentiary record fully supported it.

• The FBI formally severed outreach and cooperation with CAIR because of unresolved evidence linking it to Hamas.

• CAIR functions as a political, legal, and media front organization advancing jihadic objectives aligned with Hamas ideology while operating inside U.S. legal protections.

City Hall’s message is unmistakable: this is the direction of New York’s immigration policy.

Metro
Zohran Mamdani picks new chief immigration officer who worked for controversial Muslim nonprofit

By Craig McCarthy and Alex Oliveira, NY Post, Feb. 17, 2026:

A longtime activist with ties to the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations and pro-Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour was tapped by Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week as the city’s new chief immigration officer.

Faiza Ali – who worked with Mamdani on the Muslim Democratic Club of New York board – was appointed commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs on Monday, City Hall announced.

“At a time when immigrant New Yorkers face escalating attacks and uncertainty, this administration will not equivocate. We will defend our neighbors. We will expand access to services,” Mamdani said in a statement, saying he was “proud” of the appointment.

Ali previously served as deputy chief of staff to former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and has more than a decade of experience in religious-based activism.

Her resume includes time with the controversial Muslim civil rights organization CAIR, where she worked as community affairs director, according to Gothamist.

The nonprofit has faced allegations of connections to terror groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad, also notably celebrated Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, calling the Jewish state an “occupying power” and saying Gaza was “breaking the siege” – though he later said his words were taken out of context, according to Fox News.

Ali has also been associated with Linda Sarsour for years.

A 2012 New York Times article covered their religious activism in the city, while the pair were arrested side-by-side during a 2017 protest outside of Trump Tower.

“At a time when immigrant New Yorkers face escalating attacks and uncertainty, this administration will not equivocate. We will defend our neighbors. We will expand access to services,” Mamdani said in a statement, saying he was “proud” of the appointment.

Sarsour has been accused of antisemitism, particularly over public comments praising terrorist Rasmea Odeh — who killed two civilians in the 1970 Jerusalem supermarket bombing.

Ali was the first Muslim woman to hold a first deputy chief of staff position with the City Council, and landed on Crain’s New York Business 2022 40 under 40 list. Her profile noted that she was inspired to become an activist after facing Islamophobic harassment after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, she grew up in Brooklyn and has been involved in religious community organizing since at least 2011 when she worked with the progressive Jewish organization Bend the Arc, according to amNY.