Border czar Tom Homan pulled no punches in his response to NYC’s socialist mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, calling out Mamdani for advocating for New York to enforce its sanctuary policies, which have made the city a haven for illegal immigrants.
For background, while speaking to Fox News on August 13, 2025, border czar Tom Homan sternly warned Zohran Mamdani, a far-left mayoral candidate from New York City, that he could “stand by and watch,” but should not get in the way of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in NYC. Moreover, Homan accused Mamdani of “fear-mongering” and using harmful anti-ICE rhetoric.
During his appearance on Fox, Homan said that Mamdani “needs to do his homework” when it comes to ICE operations, adding that the agency “don’t (sic) do operations at schools, churches, or hospitals.” Homan continued, “He’s fear-mongering. The bottom line is, he says he wants to uphold city policy; how about upholding the law?”
Building on his point, Homan doubled down on the fact that politicians like Mamdani who obstruct ICE are contradicting the law. He told Fox, “The law says it’s a crime to enter this country illegally. It’s a violation of federal law.” He continued, “And it’s a crime to knowingly harbor an illegal alien. So we’re gonna enforce the law. He can stand by and watch, but he’s not going to stop us from doing our operations.”
Moreover, Homan said that ICE had “already increased staff in New York City,” going on to add, “We’re going to flood the zone in New York City. We’ve already sent many people there; we’re going to send many more people there.” Explaining further, Homan told Fox, “Because if [Mamdani] wants a sanctuary city, he won’t let us in Rikers Island, then we gotta go into the neighborhood and find ’em, which means we need a lot more people to go into the neighborhood and find the bad guy.”
Then, Homan outlined ICE’s protocols for making immigration raids in New York, saying, “When we find that bad guy, if he’s with others who are in the country illegally, they’re coming too. And he’s not gonna stop it.” Homan then addressed Mamdani, saying, “So, he can hate on ICE all he wants, but don’t get in our way.”
Notably, on the same day, press accounts confirmed that Mamdani had publicly stated his desire to maintain New York’s sanctuary policies during a rally at Staten Island. He told the crowd, “As we gather here on an island, where nearly 1 in 4 were born outside of this country, an island where 30% of its residents speak a language other than English, it’s an island that we know is not immune from this horrific crackdown.”
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Continuing, Mamdani said that he and other Democrats are “seeing…and feeling” the crackdown on illegal immigration from the Trump Administration, adding, “And we know that it has nothing to do with safety. It has to do with punishment.” He concluded, “It is not enough to fight against authoritarianism. What are you also fighting for? We are fighting to keep this city a sanctuary city.”
Watch Homan’s response to Mamdani’s comments:
Featured image credit: video screengrab