Tom Homan says ICE is going to be 'tripling the size of enforcement operations' come January

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, said on Tuesday, November 25, that America's "historic" deportation numbers will surge in January 2026 as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prepares to deploy newly hired agents.

Homan said at Axios’ Future of Defense Summit last month that ICE expects to deport more than 600,000 undocumented immigrants by year’s end. He revealed to Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday how many agents the agency has hired to help with deportations.

Tom Homan says they're 'tripling the size of enforcement operations'

During 'The Ingraham Angle', Tom Homan said, "So between that record number of deportations, the record number of self-deports, we’re already having historic deportation operations. But hold on tight. We’re hiring 10,000 more, that’s going to be on duty by mid-January."

"That’s tripling the size of enforcement operations. So if you think the numbers are historic now, wait until next year," the border czar added.

Meanwhile, Ingraham asked why people complain about the number of deportations being "nowhere near enough".

"Come put a badge and gun on and give us a hand. ICE’s hiring record numbers. Bottom line is, I just said just about 650,000 deportations. That is several hundred thousand more than the record that was back in 2012. So it was already a historic operation," Homan mentioned.

He added, "You got to consider the people who have left the country out of fear of being deported. There’s over 1.6 million of them. So there’s well over 2.2 million [who have] left the country already." 

"And that’s been the part of the plan from the beginning. We knew if we send over a thousand ICE teams out there across the country, we send a message to the whole world. You enter this country illegally, we’re looking for you," Homan added.

Tom Homan warns of increased ICE enforcement in NYC

On November 18, Tom Homan warned that New Yorkers will see an increase in federal immigration enforcement before Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes office.

During an interview on Fox News, Homan also said he plans to hold Mayor Eric Adams’ administration accountable for its commitment to reopen ICE’s office on Rikers Island.

He said on 'America’s Newsroom', "Me and Mayor Adams at one point had an agreement to let ICE into Rikers Island so we could arrest the public safety threats and the safety and security of that facility, but the City Council shut it down."

Trump’s border czar also mentioned he plans to return to the Big Apple soon, adding that there will be more immigration agents on city streets as part of a federal crackdown.

"I plan on being in New York City in the near future. We’re gonna do operations in New York City, we’re already there now, the teams are there now," Homan said, adding, "But we will increase the enforcement presence in New York City. Again, because they’re a sanctuary city and there are public safety threats hitting the streets every day." 

Interestingly, Homan’s warning came just weeks before Zohran Mamdani is set to be sworn in as mayor, replacing Eric Adams, who had previously been an ally of Homan and the Trump administration.