ALBANY, NY- Tom Homan isn’t playing. President Trump’s border czar warned New York officials that it will expand its enforcement operations in the state if lawmakers approve a package of sanctuary-like legislation, Politico reports.
“What’s going to happen with places like New York and [if] people pass ridiculous legislation not to work with us, we’re going to flood the zone,” Homan told an audience at a border security expo, a video of the event showed. “You’re going to see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen before. So congratulations.” 3
New York is widely expected to pass bills intended to protect illegal aliens in the state while stifling cooperation with federal law enforcement authorities. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is up for reelection in November, is expected to sign them.
The proposed bills would place limits on how local Empire State police agencies can coordinate with federal immigration authorities and would spell out where civil deportation warrants can and cannot be executed.
Hochil has already negotiated a requirement that would ban law enforcement officers from concealing their faces, which the Department of Homeland Security calls unconstitutional and which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has also called unconstitutional in striking down a California law. Connecticut also recently passed a similar measure so the issue is likely headed to a showdown in the Supreme Court. Such laws clearly violate the Supremacy Clause.
Hochul also wants to pave the way for New Yorkers to sue federal officials if they believe their constitutional rights have been violated, which also appears to violate the Supremacy Clause.
An agreement between legislators on those measures that have been put in place during knee-jerk reactions to two violent protesters in Minneapolis being shot and killed by ICE agents is expected soon.
President Trump assured Hochul earlier this year during a White House meeting that he would not conduct operations similar to those in Minneapolis unless states such as New York wanted it. It appears that by brazenly defying federal immigration law, Hochul may indeed attract unwanted attention.
On Tuesday, administration spokesperson Abigail Jackson warned New York lawmakers and any others considering attempts to tie the hands of ICE.
“If local law enforcement refuses to cooperate with federal law enforcement to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities, more ICE officers will be needed to remove these public safety threats,” Jackson said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will never allow criminal illegal aliens to have sanctuary in American cities.”
Hochul whined when told about Homan’s remarks, telling reporters those words were at odds with what President Trump told her in March. She claimed that the state will continue to work with federal immigration authorities when dealing with violent criminals.
“All I’ll say to Mr. Homan is that Donald Trump himself said he would not send a surge of ICE agents to the state of New York unless I ask,” Hochul told reporters during a news conference. “I’m not asking.”
Hochul clearly does not know President Trump. When he told Hochul he wouldn’t send ICE unless she “asked” for it, he was likely not speaking literally. By “asking” for ICE, the president appeared to be implying that if Hochul attempted to tie the hands of immigration authorities, that would be interpreted as “asking for it,” aka ICE, to surge into the state.
Last month, Homan met with Hochul in Albany, where Hochul told him that she hoped to prevent large-scale ICE activities in New York, although Hochul never told Homan about the plans New York legislators and she had in mind so far as attempting to impede illegal immigration enforcement.
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