BROWNSVILLE, Texas — There’s bad news for criminal illegal aliens hiding in New Jersey sanctuary cities. ICE is coming for you.
ICE Director Tom Homan, serving as the Trump administration’s border enforcement coordinator, said immigration arrests will “increase fast” and emphasized a nationwide effort targeting undocumented immigrants, including in sanctuary jurisdictions.
“I have not been satisfied with the numbers,” Homan told reporters Thursday. “We’ve increased the teams a lot; we’ve increased targeting a lot. We expect a fast increase in the number of arrests.”
Homan said the administration has already logged around 8,500 self-deportations through the CBP One mobile app, which allows some migrants to voluntarily begin the deportation process. He signaled broader enforcement will continue to ramp up, particularly in areas that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“We’re going to flood the zone in sanctuary cities; we’ll give exactly what they don’t want: More agents in the neighborhoods, more worksite enforcement,” he said.
When asked specifically about reported ICE activity in affluent areas like Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Homan responded: “We’re doing immigration action throughout the country. We’re not — we’re not saying we’re gonna favor one area over another.”
Homan defends enforcement tactics, surveillance measures
Homan dismissed the concept of sanctuary jurisdictions as ineffective at shielding immigrants from federal action. “There is no sanctuary for illegal aliens. You can call it a sanctuary jurisdiction all you want. It’s a bunch of crap,” he said.
He also responded to questions about scrutiny of social media accounts belonging to immigrant students, stating that authorities are using a variety of tools to identify targets for enforcement.
“We look at a lot of different ways to find people we need to find,” he said. While defending First Amendment rights, he warned that speech combined with conduct can raise legal concerns. “Free speech is legal, but there’s a limit to that too,” Homan said, comparing certain speech to inciting panic in a crowded space. “We’re not arresting people based on free speech. It’s what they said plus what they did.”
Homan said he believes the broader public supports the increased enforcement measures, despite public pushback in some cities. “I think we got the support of a majority of the American people” for deportations, he said.
Tom Homan signaled a sharp escalation in federal immigration enforcement while rejecting the idea that sanctuary jurisdictions offer real protection.
