Trump Border Chief Tom Homan Warns of Surge in ICE Enforcement as NYC Prepares for Mayor-Elect Mamdani
Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration czar, issued a stark warning Tuesday morning: Immigration enforcement is about to ramp up significantly on the streets of New York City—just as Democratic Socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani prepares to take office.
Speaking on Fox & Friends, Homan said federal authorities are preparing a wave of operations targeting criminal illegal aliens in the Big Apple, citing the city’s sanctuary policies and what he called an imminent threat to public safety under Mamdani’s incoming administration.
“I plan on being in New York City in the near future,” Homan declared. “We’re gonna do operations in New York City. We’re already there now, the teams are there now. But we will increase the enforcement presence.”
Homan, a former acting director of ICE and now Trump’s top border policy adviser, emphasized that enforcement is already underway but will intensify in the coming weeks as part of a broader federal crackdown on sanctuary cities.
“New York City has chosen to shield criminals instead of protect law-abiding citizens,” Homan said. “That ends now.”
Homan also took direct aim at outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, whom he described as once cooperative in ICE efforts. “Me and Mayor Adams at one point had an agreement to let ICE into Rikers Island so we could arrest the public safety threats,” he said. “But the City Council shut it down.”
Now, with Adams leaving and Mamdani—a self-declared socialist and staunch critic of ICE—taking office, Homan says the situation is about to get worse. That’s why the Trump administration is deploying additional immigration agents into the city to begin what sources say could be one of the largest urban enforcement efforts in years.
The warning follows a string of high-profile federal immigration operations, including a recent raid in San Antonio that led to the arrest of 140 illegal immigrants linked to the violent Tren de Aragua gang, and a 3,500-person sweep in Houston that netted murderers, sex offenders, and child predators.
Trump officials say New York is next.
Mamdani’s pending inauguration has sparked concern within federal law enforcement circles due to his support for abolishing ICE, defunding police, and turning New York into what he’s called “the most welcoming city for immigrants in the world.”
But Homan argues those policies are not only reckless—they’re dangerous.
“You’ve got criminal aliens being released onto the streets every single day in this city,” Homan said. “That’s why we’re going to increase operations. We are not going to wait until someone gets killed again.”
The Trump administration’s moves are part of a larger national strategy to dismantle sanctuary jurisdictions and restore the rule of law—regardless of local political opposition.
As Mamdani prepares to take the reins at City Hall, Trump’s immigration team is making it clear: If the city won’t cooperate with ICE, the feds will act unilaterally. And they’re already on the ground.