More than 1,300 migrants have been arrested by federal authorities, as confirmed by Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s “border czar.” Homan has successfully executed deportation operations in nearly 10 major cities throughout the United States.
Homan, during an interview with NewsNation on Thursday, revealed that out of the 1,300 individuals who were arrested, a minimum of 1,000 of them have prior criminal records.
“The other ones are either fugitives who’ve been through immigration court, that became a fugitive, or collaterals … in sanctuary cities because they forced us in the community,” Homan said.
During the initial three days of President Trump’s tenure, the number of arrests made accounted for approximately 1.1% of the total arrests carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the fiscal year 2024.
The number of daily arrests in 2024 averaged around 310, but it has now increased to approximately 433 per day, with a strong possibility of further growth.
According to Homan, the Biden administration used to restrict ICE from apprehending migrants unless they had been convicted of a serious crime. However, he noted that this policy no longer applies to agents.
“There’s nothing in the Immigration Nationality Act that says you got to be convicted of a crime. If you’re here illegally, you could be removed,” he said. “Our focus is on arresting public safety threats and national security threats. That’s exactly what we’re doing now.”
Media reports indicate that raids have been conducted in several major cities including Boston, Denver, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Miami, Washington, D.C., and Newark, N.J.
Some cities, including Newark, have chosen to become sanctuary cities. These cities refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities when it comes to deportation proceedings.
According to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, multiple individuals, including U.S. citizens, a U.S. military veteran, and undocumented individuals, were detained by ICE agents without a warrant. Mayor Baraka expressed his concern in a statement released on Thursday.
“Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” the statement read.
According to WLS-TV, Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago, another sanctuary city, has initiated a campaign in collaboration with the public transportation system. As part of this campaign, digital monitors at train stations are now displaying “know your rights” information for migrants.
“Any of the measures that the president is looking to execute against working people in the city of Chicago … ” Johnson said, according to the outlet, “We will defend our city. It’s just that simple.”
Homan countered the idea of sanctuary cities, emphasizing that if these cities were to cooperate by granting ICE access to local jails, federal agents would not need to venture into communities to apprehend individuals.
“They’re not letting us in the county jail because of their sanctuary laws, but if we can arrest the bad guy in the safety and security of a jail — which is safer for the officer, safer for the aliens, safer for the community — then it’d be a lot less of the type of low-level offenders, and be a lot less arrested,” Homan said.
According to a law enforcement official, if agents are compelled to operate in the community, “sanctuary cities will end up with the opposite outcome of what they desire: an increased presence of agents in neighborhoods and a higher number of incidental arrests during the execution of our law enforcement operations.”
“I have high hopes that the sanctuary cities will come around,” he expressed.
