Tom Homan Warns New York City Will See 'More ICE Agents Than Ever' Amid Crackdown

Trump administration border czar Tom Homan has renewed his threats to inundate New York City with ICE agents. The move signals what could become the largest enforcement operation inside a single city since the White House retreated from major raids following a botched January surge in Minneapolis that claimed the lives of two Americans.

According to Homan, the retaliatory surge stems from a series of measures New York enacted last month to limit local police from assisting federal immigration officers—a legislative package Homan claims he explicitly urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto.

'I made her a promise: You're going to see more ICE than you've ever seen in New York City, and it's coming,' Homan told Fox & Friends on Fox News on Monday. 'I just reviewed an operational plan. I'm not going to tell you exactly when it's going to happen, but it's coming.'

Federal Threat Disrupts Summer Sports Surge

The looming operation coincides with an anticipated influx of millions of tourists arriving for the upcoming World Cup and NBA Finals. The proposed enforcement blitz drew fierce condemnation from Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, sharply pivoting from the surprisingly amicable relationship the progressive leader had recently started building with Trump.

'We will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities — especially at this moment,' Mamdani wrote in a statement on X. '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.'

'Soccer would not exist without immigrants,' Mamdani, himself an immigrant to the US from Uganda, added. '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.'

New York Firewalls Local Police from ICE

In May, Hochul signed off on a suite of immigration reforms empowering residents to take federal agents to court for civil rights violations. The new laws also block local governments and law enforcement agencies from signing formal partnerships that deputise local officers to assist with federal crackdowns alongside agencies such as ICE and the Border Patrol.

The measures further prohibit government and school personnel from granting agents access to state property unless they present a warrant. Additionally, the legislation outlaws law enforcement officers across the state from wearing face masks while engaging with members of the public.

State officials clarified that ICE can still pick up individuals from New York facilities once they have been convicted and have finished serving their time.

Hochul Warns of Economic and Political Blowback

During a press briefing on Monday, Hochul noted that the threatened crackdown directly violates assurances made by the president not to send extra agents into areas that have not requested federal assistance.

'In New York, our local police need to be focused on local crimes and not filling up our jails with people who ICE has taken off our streets, out of our schools, out of our pizzerias, out of our homes, and I'm not going to be part of that,' Hochul said. 'So we'll help you with the criminals — always have, always will — but we're not going to be helping with civil immigration enforcement. I think that's a common sense approach.'

She also cautioned that an influx of ICE agents could derail the New York City economy, target peaceful protesters, and ultimately backfire politically on Republicans.

Shadows of the Contentious 2025 Crackdown

Federal immigration agents are already operating across New York City. They sparked widespread backlash last year by carrying out aggressive arrests right inside immigration courts and detaining people in abysmal conditions at a temporary holding facility on the 10th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper.

Throughout 2025, the White House sent heavily armed immigration units to launch tactical sweeps across Democratic strongholds. These crackdowns triggered intense backlash over claims that officers routinely used brute force and rounded up people without warrants based purely on their race, though federal officials reject those claims.

Fallout and Retraction After Fatal Minnesota Raid

The White House abandoned this aggressive strategy after agents shot and killed two immigration protesters in Minnesota over the course of just a few weeks in January.

By early February, Washington backed down and withdrew hundreds of officers from Minnesota. The fallout continued the next month when the administration sacked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem—who had spearheaded the local crackdown—while top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino quickly stepped down.