Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, said Monday that he has reviewed a plan to send a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to New York City, threatening to deploy “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen.” The threat follows Governor Kathy Hochul’s signing of a bill last month that restricts local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities in New York jails.
The confrontation between the administration and New York — one of the country’s largest sanctuary jurisdictions — is escalating as the city prepares to host millions of visitors for the NBA Finals and the FIFA World Cup final, which is being played about 10 miles outside the city in New Jersey. Immigrant rights groups have warned that the 10 million visitors expected to travel to the U.S. for the World Cup could face “serious rights violations,” including “arbitrary denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention and/or deportation.”
Homan said in a Fox News interview that the plan fulfills a promise he made to Hochul after she signed the legislation. “I made her a promise: you’re going to see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen in New York City, and it’s coming,” Homan said. “I just reviewed an operational plan.”
Homan has repeatedly threatened to send more ICE personnel to New York and to other Democrat-run sanctuary cities across the country that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Such a move has yet to materialize in New York.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani responded to the threat, saying in a statement: “Soccer would not exist without immigrants. Immigrants play and coach the game, work in the stadiums, fill the stands, and make celebrations like the World Cup possible. Six of the players on the US men’s national team are immigrants.” He added: “We will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities – especially at this moment. As the world comes to our city, we will stand proudly with our immigrant neighbors and reject these attacks for what they are: an attempt to divide us.”
The latest threat comes amid broader concerns about ICE enforcement. At least 18 people have died in ICE custody this year, according to the Guardian. In January, during an enforcement surge in Minneapolis, immigration officers killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, in a matter of weeks.