Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s incoming “border tsar,” has promised to send “twice as many” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Los Angeles to carry out mass deportations.
Los Angeles is one of the sanctuary cities that has indicated it will try to derail Trump’s plan to make the “biggest” deportation of migrants in January within his first 24 hours in the White House. Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, supported the sanctuary ordinance approved by the LA City Council on Tuesday.
On Friday, Homan suggested during a Newsmax appearance that federal immigration officials would ignore the California city’s sanctuary status and force Trump’s deportation. He said the president-elect has a “mandate” to deport migrants across the country, despite the wishes of local officials.
In response to LA City Council member Hugo Soto-Martínez recently telling MSNBC that the city “will not collaborate” or enforce Trump’s “deportation machine,” Homan expressed his dismay that officials would risk “public safety” by trying to fight Trump.
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“Federal law trumps state and local law every time, so if it doesn’t help you, get rid of it,” Homan said. “We are coming, we are doing it, and they will not stop us…. If you know the harbor and hide illegal aliens, that is a crime…. Why do you push this again?”
He continued: “If I have to send a second official to LA because we don’t get help, that’s what we’re going to do. We have a mandate, President Trump is serious about this. I’m serious about this and it’s going to happen with or without you.
The new LA ordinance directs local authorities not to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts in most cases. Bass urged the council to pass the measure last week, saying in a statement that it will help address “the many threats to the immigrant community here in Los Angeles” and “make our community stronger and our city better.”
Newsweek reached via email for comment to Bass’s office on Monday.
On November 10, Trump said on Social Truth that Homan, the acting ICE director during his first administration and a contributor to Project 2025, would be the next person “in charge of our Nation’s Borders.”
“I have known Tom for a long time, and there is no one better at policing and controlling our Borders,” Trump wrote. “Likewise, Tom Homan will be responsible for all Deportations of Illegal Aliens back to their States of Origin.”
In media appearances since the appointment, Homan has warned Democrats not to run against him and Trump next year. During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this week, he said migrants were “in trouble” when the White House changed hands.
“From the gate, we focus on public security threats and national security threats,” he said. “What politician, whether you’re the mayor or the governor, says, ‘No, I want a public safety threat to remain in my community.’ I mean, give it to me.”
He continued: “Look, if you’re in the country illegally, you’re off the table. It’s not OK to cross this border, it’s a crime. Every illegal alien who crosses that border is committing a crime. And it’s not OK. for you are in this country illegally…. So if you’re in this country illegally, you’re in trouble.”
Homan and other Trump allies have suggested that the president-elect’s immigration policy is part of his mandate after his “landslide” election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. However, when the vote count has been completed it has become apparent that the winner is relatively narrow.
While Trump was able to pull off a somewhat surprising victory in the popular vote, his eventual victory may have been less than 2 percent, the smallest in a presidential election since George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in 2000.
