A precedent for Mamdani: Mayor Woodhull

A controversy in antebellum New York City that has a parallel to a contemporary issue there has roots in the Torah.

The issue: the obligation to offer refuge to an outsider, a slave or a migrant, who is being pursued by government authorities or other people with a claim on that person.

First, some 19th-Century history: A man who had come to New York City from another area finds a job as a porter in lower Manhattan. One day, a pair of men deputized by the U.S. government surprise him at his workplace, handcuff him, and take him into custody. They claim that the man, who is married and has thre...