Donald Trump’s border tsar, Tom Homan, has again threatened to send a surge of immigration enforcement officers to New York City, saying he has reviewed an operational plan to expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the city.
In an interview on Fox News, Mr Homan said he was keeping a promise made to New York Governor Kathy Hochul that if the state passed legislation limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, more ICE agents would be deployed. “I made her a promise: you’re going to see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen in New York City, and it’s coming,” he said.
The threat comes as millions of visitors are expected to travel to the region for the NBA finals and the Fifa World Cup final, held just outside the city in New Jersey. Immigrant rights advocates have issued travel warnings for the 10 million expected visitors, cautioning that they could face “arbitrary denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention and/or deportation” amid the current political climate.
At least 18 people have died this year in ICE custody, and in January two US citizens were fatally shot by immigration officers during an enforcement surge in Minneapolis.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended immigrant communities, saying: “Soccer would not exist without immigrants.” He added: “We will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities – especially at this moment.”
