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On Tuesday, Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan threatened to “flood the zone” with immigration agents if states like New York attempt to limit coordination with federal immigration agencies.
In his opening keynote at the Border Security Expo, an annual conference bringing together law enforcement, government, and private contractors in Arizona, Homan said, “What’s going to happen with places like New York, [where] people want to pass this ridiculous legislation not to work with us? We’re going to flood the zone. You’re going to see more ICE agents [than] you’ve ever seen before.”
He continued by threatening that this would also mean an increase of arrests and detentions of undocumented people who had not committed any infractions — which he called “collateral arrests.” “You’re going to see more agents in your neighborhood,” he said.
Homan repeated his threats the next day, claiming that reducing cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement would make it more difficult to arrest immigrants.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) responded to Homan’s remarks on Thursday, saying, “I don’t take well to threats.”
“They’re going to find that out,” she continued. “We’re going to pass what we think is important to protect New Yorkers.”
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) also weighed in on Homan’s threats, saying that he “has a long history of making threats he neither has the authority nor the ability to carry out.”
On Thursday, New York Democrats put forward new rules for ICE agents, prohibiting state and local officials from entering into cooperation agreements with ICE, and barring agents from wearing masks. However, this did not address informal cooperation between law enforcement and ICE, or push for the defunding of ICE.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) also condemned ICE this week, after dozens gathered to protest against the agency’s brutality outside a hospital in Brooklyn on Saturday night. The protest was sparked by ICE’s violent arrest of Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian citizen. After Okeke requested medical attention, officers brought him to a hospital; they were later filmed dragging him from the building in shackles and forcing him into a car.
Though Mamdani condemned ICE and reiterated calls for its abolition, he has also faced criticism in recent days, with many New Yorkers calling for him to enforce stricter rules against police coordination with the agency. Mamdani insisted that New York City police did not coordinate with ICE during the incident on Saturday, but protestors and even other elected Democrats have argued that cops were “visibly working alongside ICE” outside of the hospital. Police placed themselves between protestors and ICE during the protest, clearing a path for immigration agents and arresting protestors.
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