NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) — President Donald Trump’s border czar said federal immigration teams are already operating in New York City and that additional agents are being deployed, pledging to “flood the zone” in response to the city’s sanctuary policies.
Tom Homan told Fox News that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were “on the ground” conducting operations and would expand their presence after New York’s City Council blocked an earlier agreement to allow ICE access to the Rikers Island jail complex.
“We’ll be coming to New York City, we’re there now,” Homan said on Tuesday. He added that while the administration prefers cooperation from local officials, it was prepared to act unilaterally. “We’d much rather work with these sanctuary cities than keep putting our agents at risk arresting public-safety threats out on the streets,” he said.
The warning came a day after Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said his team had contacted the White House to request a meeting with Trump to discuss housing costs and federal support for the city.
The outreach, he said, was part of a commitment to engage “anyone and everyone” if it would help New Yorkers struggling to remain in the city. The tone marks a shift for the Democratic socialist who had pledged to “Trump-proof” New York to shield the city’s most vulnerable residents from policies he considers hostile to their interests. Mamdani has pledged $165 million in funding for legal defense services for immigrants.
Homan’s comments come after a New York Times report that the Trump administration is considering opening a detention center for migrants at a Coast Guard facility in Staten Island. The paper, citing people familiar with the discussions, said officials visited the Fort Wadsworth base in recent weeks. Currently, many migrants arrested by ICE in New York City are transported to detention centers outside of the state.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters Monday in reference to Trump that “whether it’s flooding the city with ICE, bringing the National Guard or whatever he wants to do, is counterproductive for his economic objectives for our nation” as well as the president’s business interests as a property owner in New York City.
Hochul said she’s held meetings with the city’s business leaders encouraging them to convey to Trump about the potential fallout if he takes such action.
“We are the financial center, and you cannot disturb that without consequences,” she said.
Trump has promised he would enforce the largest deportation campaign in US history. Since he took office, ICE agents have focused on Democratic-led cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, with a less visible presence in New York.
Over the past few days, ICE and other federal agents increased their immigration crackdown into North Carolina. As of Tuesday morning, the Department of Homeland Security said 207 people had been arrested around Charlotte since Customs and Border Protection-led operations began there over the weekend. Authorities have detained people around shopping centers, a country club, outside churches and other locations, according to local media reports.
Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell said she had been notified that federal immigration agents were preparing to enter the capital city as soon as Tuesday, though immigration authorities have not publicly released details about planned action in that city. In a statement, Cowell stressed that Raleigh police don’t assist with immigration enforcement and said overall crime in the city has fallen from last year. She urged residents to remain calm and said police will respond to anyone who calls 911.
The Department of Homeland Security has said it has carried out more than 550,000 deportations between late January and mid-November, Data published by ICE show that between Jan. 21 and Sept. 20, the agency removed about 180,000 foreigners. The DHS hasn’t responded to questions about the different deportation figures.
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