Federal immigration officers have arrested nearly 6,500 illegal immigrants with criminal histories across New York City since President Donald Trump took office, according to a senior White House official, who said the crackdown was well underway.
White House border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday that his promised surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and other federal law enforcement to the city did not mean that ICE was not already making significant arrests across the five boroughs.
“I looked at the data this morning, my chief of staff. We’ve got just shy of 6,500 criminal illegal aliens we took off the streets of New York,” Homan told Fox News’s Fox and Friends during a taping in Manhattan on Sunday morning.
Homan has promised since May to blitz the sanctuary city with ICE in the near future, but has yet to follow through. When pressed repeatedly by a Fox News cohost for specifics on the operation, Homan explained that disclosing that type of information could risk officer safety and prompt criminals to flee.
“What makes you think we’re not already there? We’ve got to remember ICE is operating in New York City today. We’re operating across the state today, but there’s going to be a surge and there needs to be surge,” Homan said. “But I am not going to show our hand because, you know, there are groups, well-funded groups that will try to interfere, impair, but we’re not going to give them any upside on this.”
HOMAN: Nearly 6,500 criminal illegal aliens arrested by ICE in New York City under Trump — ahead of promised ICE surge pic.twitter.com/P8w5tsNoxX
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Federal immigration officials had seen initial cooperation with the city under former Mayor Eric Adams, who said he would let ICE into the city’s jail at Rikers Island.
However, the election of Zohran Mamdani last November triggered the conclusion of any federal-local cooperation.
TRANSCRIPT: WASHINGTON EXAMINER’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH TOM HOM HOMAN
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Mamdani, a socialist, said that he took pride in the city’s sanctuary policies, which were implemented by the New York City Council and bar local law enforcement from admitting ICE into Rikers Island. As a result, ICE cannot take into custody an illegal immigrant from jail and must go into communities to find each individual.
“He talks about how he doesn’t want to assist with civil immigration enforcement,” Homan said. “Why’d you lock us out of Rikers Island? ‘Cause that’s all criminals. So he just don’t want [sic] immigration law enforced.”