NEW YORK (Kashmir English): In a great honor for Azad Kashmir, Kashmiri-American Faiza Ali has been appointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s team as Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has issued a notification of Faiza’s appointment along with the appointment of Ana María Archila as Commissioner of International Affairs.
Faiza Ali is the daughter of Pakistani-Kashmiri immigrants and brings years of experience in community organizing and city government. The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) advises the Mayor to ensure New York City takes care of its immigrant neighbors.
Ali previously served as First Deputy Chief of Staff to former New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. She was the first Muslim American woman to hold this position. During this time, she played a key role in land use and budget negotiations.
Mayor Mamdani and Faiza Ali have also served together on the board of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York in the past.
“I am proud to appoint Faiza Ali as the next Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. As the daughter of Pakistani immigrants, Faiza understands firsthand the promise and the precarity that define the immigrant experience in New York. She brings more than a decade of experience in community engagement and city government, and a proven record of leadership in advancing immigrant rights and services,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani in a statement.
Faiza Ali remarks
In her statement, Faiza Ali said that at a time when refugees are facing extraordinary challenges and attacks, her top priority will be to strengthen the protection of refugee communities, increase access to legal and linguistic services, and provide real opportunities for stability.
Faiza Ali previously served as the advocacy director for the Arab American Association of New York and the community affairs director for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The daughter of Kashmiri refugees, Faiza Ali, was raised in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. Her family hails from the village of Chawala in the Charhui tehsil of Azad Kashmir. She is the cousin of Sagheer Khan, president of the US-based Kashmiri American Alliance.
Faiza Ali received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Pace University in New York. Her appointment has been met with joy in her hometown, while in the United States, different sections of the public have expressed their joy over her appointment.
Murad Ouda, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, called the appointment a victory for New York immigrants, saying that Faiza Ali is a “pure New Yorker” who understands the problems of immigrants from their roots. Mayor Zahran Mamdani says that under Faiza Ali’s leadership, the city’s immigrants will have easier access to legal services, better education, and necessities.
