Trump Border Chief Vows to Boost ICE Presence in NYC

U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan has warned that the Trump administration is preparing to ramp up immigration enforcement in New York City, signaling a more aggressive federal presence. Homan told reporters at the White House on Monday, "We're going to be in New York City," reported Bloomberg.

He said the decision is based on the issue, not politics. "President Trump said it two weeks ago - we're going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities. Why? Not because it's a blue city or a blue state, but because we know that's where the problem is."

New York is facing a potential political upheaval. Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is a self-described democratic socialist who has called for denying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents access to city-owned buildings, and generally getting in the way of the Trump administration's enforcement of immigration laws. Mamdani calls it "Trump-Proofing" New York.

Homan previously said that if Mamdani becomes mayor and tries to block ICE enforcement in the city, Mamdani should prepare himself for "game on." Homan also said ICE enforcement in New York is about to shift because ICE agents are already running into interference at court buildings and jails. "If they don't let us arrest the bad guy who comes to jail, we're going to arrest him in the community."

That, said Homan, means turning to more public enforcement actions. "We're going to increase community operations."

Community enforcement could mean open immigration sweeps of public areas, like what occurred in Los Angeles in June, where area-wide sweeps and arrests of illegal aliens by ICE agents were blamed for rioting that required the National Guard to be called in to curb the violence.

Homan said protecting illegals runs afoul of policy.

Homan said that kind of policy is dangerous, "We know they're releasing public safety threats and national security threats to the streets every day because they don't honor our detainers."

He pointed to Florida as a state that New York could learn from. "We don't have that problem in Florida, where every sheriff in the state is working with us."

• Trump: 'We'll Have to Arrest' Mamdani if He Fights ICE