Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States, and Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of the country’s most populous city, have sent pro-immigrant messages to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.
Friday’s back-to-back statements came a day before the July 4 Independence Day celebrations, which fall on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
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While neither Pope Leo nor the mayor of New York mentioned US President Donald Trump, their statements represented a clear rebuke to the president and his hardline immigration policies.
In a video broadcast from the Vatican to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pope Leo hailed the immigrants who shaped the US.
He also appealed to the US to recommit to its founding principles and recognise human dignity, regardless of borders.
“In these past 250 years, for so many peoples throughout the world, it was the firm resolve to achieve the noble vision of the nation’s founders that made America a byword for freedom, as the country opened its doors to successive waves of immigrants,” the Chicago-born pope said.
Leo has previously criticised the Trump administration’s immigration policies as “inhuman”.
But in Friday’s address, his biggest so far to the US, he called for “a public discourse marked by moderation, respect for the views of others and an ongoing effort to find common ground”.
“This historic anniversary presents us with the opportunity to reflect once again on the nation’s founding principles, in the hope that America will remain ever true to the dream that has earned it the title of land of the free and home of the brave,” Leo said.
Mamdani, meanwhile, delivered a video speech surrounded by recently naturalised citizens from New York City, a metropolis of about nine million people where over 200 distinct languages are spoken.
The mayor himself is a naturalised citizen, as of 2018. He urged listeners to reject the “powerful” forces who believed in a country where “only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal”.
“America, if you ask them, becomes less, the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right trait of skin,” said Mamdani.
“The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit. How small they are, how weak, how unoriginal.”
The speech comes after a slate of Mamdani-backed candidates notched surprise victories in New York’s Democratic primaries, advancing to November’s midterm elections.
The wins have underscored the mayor’s newfound political muscle and signalled a wider leftward lurch in the Democratic Party.
Counterpoint to Trump
The two speeches are the latest entry in a long-running debate over which ideals should define the US.
Some have argued in favour of the country’s diversity, pointing to images of the US as a melting pot or mosaic of different cultures.
The Trump administration, on the other hand, has rejected slogans like “diversity, equity and inclusion”, arguing that it detracts from the country’s meritocracy.
One of Trump’s top advisers, Stephen Miller, has sculpted the president’s hardline immigration stance, a defining policy of both his first and second terms.
Miller has long been deeply opposed to modern immigration systems and has repeatedly argued that US immigration practices pose an existential threat to the country.
During Trump’s second term, Miller has led a push to restrict nearly all forms of immigration, including legal pathways like refugee admissions, asylum applications and temporary visas, while simultaneously launching a mass deportation drive.
As part of his administration’s efforts to restrict immigration, Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term to end birthright citizenship, which confers citizenship to virtually all children born in the US.
Critics warned that abolishing birthright citizenship would not only contravene the US Constitution but also leave some babies essentially stateless.
But Miller called the longstanding practice “national self-obliteration”, framing the children of immigrants as destructive to the fabric of the country.
Just days before the 250th anniversary, the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order, ruling it unconstitutional.
But the high court has backed other parts of Trump’s immigration platform. On June 25, it ruled that immigration agents could physically block asylum seekers from setting foot onto US soil, to prevent them from being able to submit applications for protection in the US.
After the ruling, Miller announced that “America’s doors are closed, fully, to asylum seekers”.
Trump travelled to South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore on Friday, where he is set to deliver one of several speeches marking the 250th anniversary of the US.
He was set to speak at 10:30 pm US Eastern time on Friday (02:30 GMT Saturday), with another speech scheduled for 9:45 pm Saturday (01:45 GMT Sunday) in Washington, DC.
