WASHINGTON (TNND) — Border czar Tom Homan said Monday that New York City will “see more ICE agents” than ever in a deployment following a new law signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).
“You are going to see more ICE agents than you have ever seen in New York City. And it’s coming. I just reviewed an operational plan. I’m not going to tell you exactly when it’s going to happen, but it’s coming,” Homan said during an interview on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends,” The Hill reported.
“I’m keeping my promise. We are going to send more ICE agents to New York because you took away the efficiencies of safe arrests in county jails,” he added.
Last month, Hochul signed a legislative package into law that bans law enforcement officers from wearing masks and prevents state and local officers from engaging in civil immigration enforcement. The law also bans federal law enforcement from using state and local facilities for immigration enforcement.
In early May, Homan warned Hochul against signing the legislation into law.
“If we can work with the sheriffs and arrest the bad guy in the safety and security of the jail, that means less teams into the neighborhoods, which causes a lot of panic, a lot of problems, right?” Homan said on Fox.
“I said but if you sign the legislation that I think you are getting about ready to sign, that means I am going to send more agents to New York because rather than one guy arresting one bad guy in a jail now we got to send a whole team into a neighborhood to find this person that didn’t want to be found because of officer safety reasons, you know, now we have to arrest this guy on his turf,” he added.
Hochul’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
Several other Democratic-led states, such as New Jersey, Virginia, and California, have enacted similar laws.