Border Czar Threatens to Flood New York with ICE Agents if State Cuts Immigration Cooperation

At a government contractors’ conference in Phoenix, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan issued a stark warning to New York: pass a law limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and the state will be flooded with ICE agents conducting deportation raids.

Homan’s threat targets Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed “Local Cops, Local Crimes” bill, which would prohibit counties and cities from entering 287(g) agreements that deputize local police as ICE agents. Speaking at the Border Security Expo 2026, Homan declared, “You want to do that to us? ... We’re gonna flood the zone. You’re gonna see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen before.”

He made clear that federal agents would be ordered to arrest not only priority targets but also any undocumented immigrants encountered en route, cynically referring to these as “collateral” arrests — a military term that signals civilian harm is expected and accepted. “No one is off the table,” Homan said bluntly.

This aggressive posture comes amid growing resistance from New York’s Democratic leadership. Hochul met privately with Homan earlier this year to express opposition to the Trump administration’s tactics and to plans for new detention centers in the state. Meanwhile, New York City’s Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani has vowed that the NYPD will not assist ICE, despite pressure and controversial deployments against immigrant rights protesters.

Hochul responded to Homan’s threats by invoking Trump’s own words: “Donald Trump himself said he would not send a surge of ICE agents to the state of New York unless I ask …. I’m not asking.”

Homan also boasted about the Trump administration’s deportation record, claiming nearly 800,000 removals — almost double the previous record under Obama. While exact numbers remain murky due to government opacity, experts suggest deportations have surged. Homan further revealed plans to hire 10,000 new ICE agents using last year’s massive budget increase, promising, “If you think last year’s numbers are good, wait till we hire 10,000 more deportation officers. You ain’t seen shit yet.”

This threat to escalate ICE operations in New York underscores the administration’s relentless push to criminalize immigrant communities and expand its enforcement reach, even as state and local leaders push back. The battle over local cooperation with ICE is shaping up as a critical front in the fight over immigration policy and civil rights in the Trump era.