Homan’s NYC Dragnet: Nowhere To Hide

Man in suit sitting on stage with American flag.

President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has put illegal immigrants in New York City on notice, warning “we’re looking for you” as he readies the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deployment the city has ever seen.

Story Snapshot

Tom Homan says New York City will soon see more ICE agents than ever before, and illegal immigrants “cannot hide.”
He links the coming surge to New York’s move to end 287(g) jail cooperation, which he says forces ICE into the streets to hunt criminals.
Governor Kathy Hochul and city leaders condemn the plan as “cruel,” while Homan insists he is enforcing federal law and protecting public safety.
Critics argue New York can legally drop 287(g) and raise Fourth Amendment concerns, but they offer little hard data to counter Homan’s crime claims.

Homan’s Warning: ‘You Cannot Hide’ From Federal Immigration Agents

White House border czar Tom Homan has become the public face of Trump’s massive deportation campaign, and his latest message aims straight at illegal immigrants living in New York City. In interviews and press briefings, Homan warns that those in the country illegally “cannot hide” and that federal immigration agents are actively looking for them. He urges people to “get your affairs in order,” cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or use official tools to leave the country on their own. The clear goal is deterrence: convince illegal immigrants that staying will end in arrest, detention, and removal.

Homan has framed this broader effort as the largest deportation campaign in American history, backed by billions in new funding and more agents on the ground. He says President Trump and Congress have armed his office with money for detention beds, transportation contracts, immigration judges, and government lawyers so removals can happen faster. In media appearances, he stresses that public safety threats and national security concerns are the top priority, yet he also makes plain that everyone in the country illegally remains a target. For conservatives, this marks a sharp break from years of weak enforcement and sanctuary policies that ignored federal immigration law.

Why New York Is In the Crosshairs: 287(g), Sanctuary Politics, And ‘Thousands Of Criminals’

New York’s decision to end its 287(g) jail agreements is at the center of Homan’s plan to flood the city with federal immigration agents. Under these agreements, local jail officers could work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement inside detention facilities, allowing quiet transfers of illegal immigrants from local custody straight into federal detention. New York’s new law voids those agreements 90 days after signing, with existing deals still valid for a short time. Homan argues that once jails stop helping, ICE must send “a whole team” into the community to find each released criminal, burning time and resources that could have been saved.

During a warning to New York carried by Forbes Breaking News, Homan claimed that “thousands of criminals” have walked free since Governor Hochul took office because jails stopped working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He challenged officials to name even one county still honoring federal detainers and said none could answer. While he did not provide detailed case numbers, his argument is simple: when sanctuary leaders block quiet jail transfers, dangerous people hit the streets instead of being deported. For many conservatives, this is the direct, predictable result of years of anti-enforcement ideology from Democrat officials.

Pushback From Hochul And The Left, And The Legal Arguments Around Detainers

Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City leaders have answered Homan’s warnings with sharp attacks, calling his planned surge “cruel” and “inhumane” and framing it as a political stunt. In official remarks, Hochul insists the state has the right to end 287(g) agreements and to refuse Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers that rest only on internal agency forms instead of a judge’s warrant. Legal advocates point out that 287(g) agreements are voluntary and can be ended at any time by either side, and that local officers never had authority to enforce immigration law outside jails under those deals.

🚨 @ICEgov surge coming to NYC 💪🏼@MorseReport nailed it — @DHSgov Secretary @SecMullinDHS is right to call out NYC Mayor @NYCMayor Zohran Mamdani’s sanctuary policies that deliberately restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and shield illegal… https://t.co/gmLTTtbkj0

— Texas Ricky (@rmacdon627) July 1, 2026

Civil-liberties groups backing Hochul highlight court rulings that question immigration detainers, arguing that holding someone past their release without judicial probable cause can violate the Fourth Amendment. They say Immigration and Customs Enforcement often uses administrative warrants signed by its own officers, not judges, and that New York is defending constitutional rights by refusing them. Still, these critics have not produced detailed, audited data to directly refute Homan’s claim that thousands of criminals were released or to show that counties are widely honoring detainers today. The fight is less about whether New York can drop 287(g) and more about whether doing so has made the streets safer or more dangerous.

What It Means For Illegal Immigrants — And For Law-Abiding New Yorkers

For illegal immigrants living in New York City, Homan’s message is blunt: “We’re looking for you,” and the days of quiet sanctuary are ending. He has vowed that New York will not become “another Minnesota,” a reference to earlier urban raids where large numbers of agents made thousands of arrests. That means more federal jackets on city streets, more workplace checks, and more home visits as Immigration and Customs Enforcement tries to track down people with criminal charges and visa overstays. For families who followed the law, this marks a long-awaited shift toward real enforcement after years of political games that protected lawbreakers.

At the same time, the clash between the White House and New York’s leaders shows how divided the country remains over immigration enforcement and constitutional limits on government power. President Trump has promised there will be no amnesty and has backed Homan’s push to send more agents into sanctuary cities, yet past assurances to Hochul about deployments have raised questions about internal messaging. While left-leaning media try to paint every enforcement surge as an “ominous threat,” many Americans see it as basic law and order: a government finally using its tools to defend borders, protect citizens, and stop local politicians from turning major cities into magnets for illegal immigration.