New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released a Spanish-language video on Tuesday urging all city parents—including those in the country illegally—to enroll their children in free pre-K and 3-K programs before a Feb. 27 deadline.
The video, posted by the NYC Mayor’s Office, was delivered entirely in Spanish and included English subtitles.
Mamdani opened the advertisement by acknowledging his limited command of the Spanish language before bringing in Ocasio-Cortez to deliver the bulk of the message.
“My Spanish is not very good,” Mamdani said in the video. “But the fight for universal childcare? That is very good. So I brought a friend to help me share why signing up for free 3-K and Pre-K this week matters.”
Ocasio-Cortez then took center stage in the video, delivering a pitch directly to Spanish-speaking parents about the enrollment window for the 2026-2027 school year.
“Any New York City parent, regardless of your occupation, income or immigration status is eligible to sign their child up,” she said.
The congresswoman detailed three methods of enrollment available to families: applying online, calling 718-935-2009 for assistance in more than 200 languages, or visiting one of the city’s Family Welcome Centers spread across the five boroughs.
“We’ve made the application process easy, no matter who you are,” Ocasio-Cortez added in the video.
She concluded her portion of the message by stating, “Because no family should be shut out from our programs just because of the language they speak,’ and that free childcare is ‘one of the most important ways we can make our city more affordable for everyone.”
The advertisement closed with Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani sharing a high-five as she called out, “Muy bien!”
The video drew immediate backlash from conservative voices on the social media platform X, with many critics accusing the pair of directing taxpayer-funded benefits toward those who entered the country without legal authorization.
“Hey AOC imagine you put this much effort into ideas to help working Americans earn more money,” one user posted in response to the video.
A right-wing influencer pushed back on the word “free” in the advertisement’s messaging, telling followers, “Nothing is ‘FREE.’”
Several critics also targeted Ocasio-Cortez’s fluency, with some suggesting her Spanish was not significantly stronger than Mamdani’s, despite his self-deprecating introduction.
The reaction was not universally negative.
One user named Rachel Bedard wrote in support of the video, “UGH my heart is FULL because it’s so CUTE when the government loves the people and works for the people!”
WATCH:
The video’s release comes during an active period of immigration enforcement by the Trump administration, which has conducted crackdowns on undocumented migrants across major U.S. cities.
New York City has publicly refused to cooperate with federal authorities on mass migrant detentions and identifies itself as a sanctuary city.
Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race last year on a platform centered on reducing the cost of healthcare and daily living expenses for working families, explicitly including those regardless of immigration status.
His fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, published Feb. 17, allocated an additional $1.2 billion directed toward migrants arriving in New York City, according to the New York Post.
In January, Mamdani addressed the inclusion of undocumented children in the pre-K and 3-K programs, stating, “These are programs for every single New Yorker. These are not programs that are going to ask the immigration status of any one of the children.”
“All of those children are New Yorkers. They should all be enrolled in Pre-K and 3-K no matter where they were born or where they come from.”
