Homan Promises ICE Surge to Sanctuary Cities After 800,000 Deportations
Border czar Tom Homan warned sanctuary cities to expect a dramatic increase in ICE agents, announcing 800,000 deportations since Trump's return and vowing intensified enforcement against local resistance.
Tom Homan issued a blunt message to sanctuary cities on Tuesday: more ICE agents are coming, and local resistance will only bring federal enforcement deeper into your streets. The border czar delivered the warning at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix, declaring that mass deportations are accelerating after the administration removed 800,000 illegal immigrants during President Trump's second term.
"For the people out there saying 'President Trump's getting weak on mass deportation,' you don't know what the hell you're talking about," Homan told the crowd, dismissing critics as "keyboard warriors." His remarks landed as a direct challenge to mayors and governors who have staked their political identity on defying federal immigration law.
The numbers behind Homan's confidence tell a stark story. Customs and Border Protection recorded just 8,268 apprehensions in March 2026, a 97 percent drop from the Biden administration's December 2023 peak. Daily arrests have collapsed from 12,000 to 14,000 per day during the 2022-2023 crisis to fewer than 200 today. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott confirmed the border has remained at 55-year lows for 15 consecutive months.
With the southern border secured, enforcement has pivoted to a new battleground. New York lawmakers are drafting legislation to ban 287(g) cooperation agreements, prohibit local jails from holding people for ICE, and restrict on-duty federal agents within state jurisdiction. Governor Kathy Hochul declared that Trump would not send a surge of ICE agents to New York "unless I ask. I'm not asking."
Homan rejected Hochul's defiance outright. "We're going to flood the zone. You're going to see more ICE agents [than] you ever seen before," he said in Phoenix. The threat carries weight from earlier promises. In a January 2025 interview, Homan stated sanctuary cities would get "more agents in their neighborhoods and more collateral arrests." At the expo, he told the audience they would see collateral arrests increase because local leaders "forced us in this position."
The border czar argued that sanctuary policies do not protect communities—they shield criminals from consequences. "This crap from these mayors and governors saying they want illegal alien victims to feel safe reporting crimes," Homan said, "that's just a line of s***." He insisted victims and witnesses do not want offenders returned to their neighborhoods, and that enforcement keeps communities safer from predators.
Public opinion appears to back the administration's hardline stance. A Pew Research Center survey of 8,512 U.S. adults in January found 62 percent support maintaining a large military presence at the Mexico border. That level of backing stands in contrast to sanctuary policies, which represent a narrower political agenda driven by coastal elites rather than broad public sentiment.
Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota demonstrated what scaled enforcement can achieve. Roughly 3,000 immigration officers deployed to Minneapolis in early December 2025, producing more than 1,000 removals, according to Homan. The administration refined its tactics after initial public backlash, shifting from former Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino's visible sweeps to Homan's intelligence-driven model. The pivot came after support waned following incidents involving two U.S. citizen deaths.
Homan acknowledged that 35 to 40 percent of arrested undocumented immigrants have no criminal record. He defended the approach as necessary to "send a message to the whole world," arguing that anyone in the country illegally has "cheated the system." The strategy pairs targeted criminal removals with broad deterrence messaging, a combination that has produced historic reductions in border crossings.
The administration is also addressing a separate enforcement gap. DHS confirmed it is tracking 300,000 unaccompanied immigrant children released into the U.S. interior, seeking to close a paperwork and tracking deficiency left by the previous administration.
ICE operates with approximately 7,000 officers and conducts roughly 250,000 deportations annually under standard conditions. Homan signaled those figures could rise sharply in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate. "If you're a significant public safety threat or national security threat, you have no sanctuary in this nation," he stated.
The border czar closed with a forward-looking warning that carried the weight of someone who believes the hardest work lies ahead. "You ain't seen shit yet. This year will be a good year," he declared. The administration has secured the border, removed 800,000 illegal immigrants, and now faces sanctuary city resistance that officials say will only accelerate enforcement. As border crossings collapse to levels not seen since the Nixon administration, the real test may be whether local defiance can withstand a federal government determined to carry out its deportation mandate.