Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is so far staying silent with regard to the arrest by federal agents on Sunday of a Palestinian student activist who played a leading role in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University last year — as several primary rivals for New York City mayor condemn the move.

A spokesperson for Cuomo, a Democrat who announced his mayoral bid a week ago, did not return requests for comment from Jewish Insider on Monday. He has otherwise declined to publicly address the matter.

His hesitation to weigh in on the politically charged issue suggests that Cuomo — who has been courting Jewish and pro-Israel voters — is taking a cautious approach to the Trump administration’s polarizing crackdown on campus protests even as he indicates that combating rising antisemitism is among his top priorities.

“The law must be aggressively enforced and our New York should go even further and be at the forefront, leading the fight against the global rise of antisemitism,” Cuomo said in a 17-minute kickoff video, which featured an image of an anti-Israel demonstration outside of Fordham University.

The former governor has also pledged to stand up to President Donald Trump, characterizing him as “the bully in the schoolyard” who “puts his finger in your chest.”

Cuomo’s opponents in the June primary election, meanwhile, have almost unanimously denounced the arrest as a violation of due process and called for the release of Mahmoud Khalil — a green card holder who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents days after the Trump administration said it would slash $400 million in federal funding from Columbia over the university’s handling of alleged antisemitic protests.

Brad Lander, the progressive-minded city comptroller and a Jewish Democrat, called the arrest “an unconstitutional and egregious violation of the First Amendment, and a frightening weaponization of immigration law.”

“I disagree strongly with things that were said in the protests he reportedly led,” Lander said on Sunday. “But it will not make Jews — or any of us — safer for the federal government to deport people for saying things we may find hateful.”

In a statement to JI on Monday, Scott Stringer, the former comptroller and a Jewish Democrat, said it is “absolutely absurd for the government to arrest people they don’t agree with.”

“While I disagree with many of the tactics and rhetoric of the protests at Columbia, the Trump administration detaining a green card holder for engaging in speech they don’t like is a clear violation of First Amendment rights,” Stringer added.

Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens and the most outspoken critic of Israel in the mayoral race, also denounced the arrest as “a blatant assault on the First Amendment and a sign of advancing authoritarianism under Trump,” he wrote on social media. “He must be released now.”

Mamdani added in a separate post that Cuomo’s continued avoidance of the issue shows he is “not prepared to stand up to Donald Trump.”

“This chilling action by the Trump administration crosses another line towards authoritarianism,” said Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn state senator who is one of several progressives in the race. “ICE has no right to detain a green card holder who has not been convicted of, or even charged with, any crime. This is profoundly un-American, and Khalil must be released.”

Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker who officially launched her mayoral bid on Saturday, likewise characterized Khalil’s arrest as an act of “blatant authoritarianism.”

“This is a civil rights issue and an astounding overreach that disregards the U.S. Constitution,” she said on Monday. “It should concern every American and cannot be allowed to stand.”

In a statement shared with JI on Monday, Jessica Ramos, a state senator from Queens, said that the Trump administration had “offered no serious legal justification for Khalil’s detention, instead citing a Trump executive order.”

“We know from history that abuse of detention powers are a hallmark of authoritarian regimes,” Ramos added. “Contrary to his own belief, Trump is not a king. His actions are a threat to all of us, even those who disagree with Khalil’s speech. I demand the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil.”

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Sunday that Khalil had been arrested “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism,” claiming the former Columbia graduate student “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

“ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security,” the statement added. 

Khalil, who has not been formally charged with a crime, is being held in an immigration detention facility in Louisiana, according to an online ICE database. His attorney has vowed to challenge the arrest in court.

Trump, in comments posted to social media on Monday, said that Khalil’s detention “is the first arrest of many to come.”

“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” he wrote. “Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”

A spokesperson for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who had aggressively targeted Columbia protestors last year, declined to comment on the arrest. “We don’t have a lot of information on this beyond what has been reported,” the spokesperson told JI, adding that Adams’ team “doesn’t work with ICE on civil immigration enforcement.”

The mayor has in recent weeks faced widespread calls to resign over accusations, which he denies, that he negotiated a deal with the Department of Justice to dismiss his federal corruption charges in exchange for enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor who is running as an independent, shared a more skeptical view of Khalil on Monday, even as he called for due process in handling his arrest. “I cannot lend my voice to someone who strikes me as an antisemitic terrorist sympathizer,” he told JI in a statement. “He deserves due process of law in the United States — unlike the repressive regimes he supports.”

“Offering support to terrorists, attacking Jewish students, and engaging in hate speech seem like valid reasons for authorities to take a closer look at pro-Hamas organizers,” Walden said.