(The Center Square) — President Donald Trump’s border czar is pledging to make sanctuary cities a primary target for federal immigration enforcement following the shooting of a border patrol agent in New York City over the weekend.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing Monday, Tom Homan blamed the botched robbery and shooting of the off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer by a “criminal alien” with a lengthy rap sheet on the city’s policies restricting local cooperation with immigration officials. Homan specifically singled out the Democratic-controlled City Council and embattled Mayor Eric Adams for supporting the sanctuary laws.
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“Sanctuary cities are now our priority,” Homan said in remarks Monday. “You don’t want to let us into jail to arrest a bad guy in the safety and security of a jail. You want to release him into the street. So, what we’re going to do, we’ll have more agents in New York City to look for that bad guy.”
Homan, who previously served as the acting director of ICE, said he plans to “flood the zone” in New York City and other major cities that are allowing “criminal aliens” to roam the streets despite efforts to deport them.
“Sanctuary cities get exactly what they don’t want — more agents in the community and more agents in the worksite,” he said. “If we can’t arrest that bad guy in the safety and security of the county jail, we’ll arrest him in the community.”
The suspects in the shooting, Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez and Christhian Aybar-Berroa, are pending arraignment. Both are undocumented immigrants from the Dominican Republic, according to authorities. Nunez has an active warrant for kidnapping and armed robbery in Massachusetts, police said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said both men have lengthy criminal records and they should have been deported months ago but the city’s sanctuary laws prevented them from being apprehended.
“How many more lives will it take, how many more people have to be hurt and victimized before we have public safety be a number one priority in some of our largest cities,” Noem told reporters at Monday’s briefing. “When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies.”
New York City has been a flashpoint in the national immigration debate with more than 230,000 migrants arriving in the city since early 2022. The city has spent an estimated $8 billion on housing and other costs for migrants, according to the Adams administration. ICE operations in the city have arrested nearly 29,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the agency’s website.
Adams, a Democrat who is running for reelection as an independent, has been largely cooperative with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns. He has also agreed to allow ICE agents to reopen an office at the notorious Rikers Island jail, a move that is being challenged in court.
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But Adams told reporters Monday that while he supports the Trump administration’s efforts to support dangerous criminals, he doesn’t want to see law-abiding immigrants swept up in immigration raids. He said ICE should be focused on apprehending people who commit crimes.
“If he’s going to assist us to go after those individuals, I welcome it,” Adams said of Homan’s remarks. “If it’s going to be to go after everyday individuals who are trying to complete the path to be a citizen, then I don’t think we should do that.”