00:00The vision of India that I was taught by my family and the one that I grew up being very
00:07familiar with was of a pluralistic society, of a secular republic.
00:12Okay, question about the RSS. The Indian right-wing paramilitary organization is planning to have a
00:18rally this weekend at Madison Square Garden and their protests against this rally, including one
00:24right now, I think, at City Hall. Shahana Hanif, Brad Lander, and Lincoln Rustler have all called
00:30for it to be canceled. Opponents to the rally cite the RSS's treatment of religious minorities in
00:36India. That's something you've spoken out about. So just want to get your position on that. And then
00:40I also have a question about open primaries. You know, I also stand here as the first Indian
00:44American mayor in our city's history. And my mother's family is all still in India. And the
00:51vision of India that I was taught by my family and the one that I grew up being very familiar
00:59with was of a pluralistic society, of a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each
01:06and every person who was from India. And it has been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a
01:14movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision of any country, frankly. And so it is one
01:20that I find myself in deep opposition to, not only as an Indian American, but also as the mayor of
01:25a
01:26city that believes deeply in the belonging of each and every person, no matter their color, their
01:31creed, their religion, their faith, wherever they're from. Should the rally be canceled, though, at MSG
01:36this weekend? I don't support the rally, but I don't know if the city has any jurisdiction on
01:41canceling a private event. Thank you. We have time for some more off topic. I'll go with Nick.
01:46Nick. How's it going, Nick? A story of his own.
01:52I haven't seen you around lately. I know. I once door knocked Nick, not knowing he was Nick.
01:57True story. Matching sweatshirts. Great memory. Wow. Yeah. Not me and Nick. Correct. My partner
02:05and I. Nick and his partner. It was humiliating.
02:10Is it Middlebury? Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so I wanted to ask if you are aware of any changes
02:18to the city, any changes to city policy that have resulted from the federal changes to work
02:24visas for international job applicants, H-1B in particular, the Trump administration last
02:29year, so before you took office, obviously, implemented a $100,000 fee for employers for each
02:35visa they've sponsored that's affected, you know, workforces all around the country, hospitals,
02:41nonprofits. Do you know whether it's affected city government at all? Not off the top of my head,
02:46but we will get back to you on that question. Thanks. Thank you very much. Thank you. You can
02:49go to Dana. Hi. Hey, Dana. How's it going? Good. On a related question, actually, you know,
02:57now that a couple weeks have passed, you have the tally of how many TPS recipients the city's had to
03:03part ways with, and can you tell us what, you know, particular agencies were most impacted?
03:10We can get back to you on the exact number. What I can tell you is that these were city
03:16workers
03:16across a number of different agencies, workers who performed vital service to the city, and it's just
03:23one part of why I have spoken with the president directly about the importance of extending TPS for
03:31Haitian Americans, for Syrian Americans, for so many who have now been deprived of that status.
03:36We are also talking about a status that was created with the intention of shielding
03:43sets of people from having to return to home countries that were deemed to be unstable.
03:47And when you look at the conditions in Haiti today, the idea that we would send Haitian Americans back
03:53in this moment, to me, is a betrayal of what TPS actually stands for. And we continue to call on
03:59the
03:59federal government to change that decision.
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