Border czar Tom Homan said he will bring fire and ICE to New York unless Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul stops protecting illegal immigrants.
Homan, a native of northern New York state, journeyed to Albany on Wednesday to rally Republican lawmakers who make up a minority in New York’s legislature and to vow to Hochul that she cannot make New York immune from the reach of federal law.
“New York state, you gotta change your sanctuary status. If you don’t, get out the way, because we’re going to do our job,” Homan said, according to North Country Public Radio.
“Sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want: more agents in the community,” he said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to the New York Post. “We’ll double the man-force if we have to. Rather than one officer arresting a bad guy, now I have to send a whole team.”
Homan said antagonism directed against him will not slow him down.
“I work for a president who wants to save lives … and make this country safe again,” Homan said, according to the Albany Times-Union. “You want to hate on me? Hate on me because I eat it up.”
Homan said he has not tried to meet with Hochul, a vocal critic of the Trump administration.
“She hasn’t communicated with me (either),” he said. “Let’s be clear: I’m doing nothing wrong, she is.”
Homan’s visit triggered Democratic lawmakers to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who led sometimes violent anti-Semitic protests at Columbia University.
Tom Homan calmly eats an apple as the left screams at him.
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 12, 2025
Should Homan flood NY with ICE even if Hochul agrees to end sanctuary policies?
Homan said he did not know all the details of the charges against Khalil but called him “a national security threat” whose actions were “contrary to United States foreign policy.”
“I keep hearing ‘freedom of speech, freedom of speech, freedom of speech,’” Homan said. “Can you stand in a movie theater and yell ‘fire’?… Free speech has limitations.”
“Come into this country, either on a visa or (by) becoming a resident alien, is a great privilege, but there are rules associated with that. You might have been able to get away with that stuff under the last administration, but you won’t with this administration.”
As noted by North Country Public Radio, Homan said, “When you hand out leaflets, incite violence on a college campus, that’s illegal.”
Homan contrasted Hochul with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who he said had been supportive of efforts to root out criminal illegal immigrants.
“We’re working on some things, I can’t share it all with you right now,” he said, according to the Post.
Adams “wanted to get federal immigration authorities back into Rikers Island to talk to illegal aliens who committed a crime against a citizen,” Homan said.
“For a mayor who wants to be a law and order mayor, I think it’s the right kind of mayor that New York City deserves and should have.”
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