‘We're gonna flood the zone': Trump's border czar says immigration officials to escalate operations in sanctuary cities
Date: 2025-07-21T19:34:58.000Z
Title: .
Content: Tom Homan says immigration officials will escalate operations in New York and other so-called sanctuary cities
José Olivares (now);
Joseph Gedeon,
Fran Lawther and
Tom Ambrose (earlier)
Mon 21 Jul 2025 2134 CEST
First published on Mon 21 Jul 2025 1224 CEST
From
826pm CEST
20:26
Border czar Tom Homan said Monday that immigration officials will escalate operations in New York and other so-called sanctuary cities
'Sanctuary cities are now our priority,' Homan said 'We're gonna flood the zone'
Homan's comments follow an attempted robbery and shooting of an armed, off-duty customs officer in Manhattan this weekend The New York City Police Commissioner said the officer was not likely targeted due to his employment
When two men approached the off-duty officer to rob him and a companion in a Manhattan park, the officer withdrew a gun and engaged in a shootout with one of the robbers The robber was arrested after being taken to a hospital The customs officer is recovering from gunshots
Trump administration officials have said that so-called sanctuary policies were to blame for the shooting New York and other cities have policies that limit local government cooperation in federal immigration matters
Updated
at 830pm CEST
934pm CEST
21:34
The Trump administration has flouted court orders in just over one-third of the lawsuits filed against its policies, a Washington Post analysis found The Post's analysis says it suggests a 'widespread noncompliance with America's legal system' by the White House
A number of plaintiffs that have sued the Trump administration say that agencies and officials are ignoring rulings, providing false information, failing to turn over evidence and quietly acting in defiance of court rulings
Since Trump took office, there has been a battle between the White House and the judiciary, during which officials have defied numerous court orders Trump administration officials have repeatedly criticized federal judges as 'activist judges'
According to the Post, despite judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents agreeing that the administration is flouting court orders, 'none have taken punitive action to try to force compliance'
The Post analyzed 337 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration since January Courts have ruled in 165 of the lawsuits And the Post found that the Trump administration is accused of defying court orders in 57 of those cases
913pm CEST
21:13
Robert Tait
Two suspects are in custody for the alleged shooting and wounding of a customs officer in New York, officials said on Monday, the Guardian's Robert Tait reports
During a press conference on Monday, homeland security secretary Krsiti Noem and Tom Homan, the Trump administration's border czar, also said the episode was a direct result of New York's sanctuary city policies and the approach to border security under Joe Biden's presidency
On Saturday night, an off-duty customs officer was shot and wounded during an apparent attempted robbery The officer was not in uniform at the time and police said there was indication he was targeted because of his occupation
A suspect in the incident, Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, was later taken into custody after turning up at a hospital in the Bronx with gunshot wounds to the leg and groin
During Monday's press conference, Noem also focused on the profile of Nunez, who she said had been arrested four times since entering the US illegally in 2023 She also discussed the profile of his accomplice, Christhian Aybar-Berroa, saying he had 'entered the country illegally in 2022 under the Biden Administration and was ordered for final removal in 2023 by an immigration judge'
'There's absolutely zero reason that someone who has scum of the earth like this should be running loose on the streets of New York City,' Noem said, referring to Nunez 'Arrested four different times in New York City and because of the mayor's policies and was released back to do harm to people and to individuals living in the city Make no mistake, this officer is in the hospital today, fighting for his life because of the policies of the mayor of the city and the city council and the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe'
Homan said 'sanctuary cities are cities for criminals' He said the administration would 'flood the zone' with immigration, customs and enforcement (Ice) officials to detain undocumented people in sanctuary cities
'What we're going to do [is deploy] more agents in New York City to look for that bad guy so sanctuary cities get exactly what they don't want - more agents in the community and more agents in the worksite,' he said
'I'm sick and tired of reading in the media every day how Ice is not doing what the Trump administration has promised, that we're not arresting criminals, that most of the people we arrested are not criminals I look at the numbers every day The numbers I looked at [are] 130,000 arrests and 90,000 criminals Do the math That's 70%'
855pm CEST
20:55
Robert Tait
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, has blamed the sanctuary city policies applied by Democratic mayors for the wounding of an off-duty Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer in an attempted robbery, allegedly carried out by undocumented immigrants, one of whom was reportedly subject to a deportation order, the Guardian's Robert Tait reports
The 42-year-old officer sustained gunshot wounds to his face and arm after being attacked in a Manhattan park shortly before midnight on Saturday night
He was shot after drawing his service weapon after being approached by two men on a scooter as he sat on a bench with a female companion The officer was not in uniform at the time and police said there was indication he was targeted because of his occupation
At a news conference on Monday, Noem, flanked by Tom Homan, the Trump administration's border czar, and several law enforcement officials, said the episode was a direct result of the sanctuary city policy adopted by New York's mayor, Eric Adams, as well as the approach to border security adopted during Joe Biden's presidency Noem also criticized Adams during the conference
Noem's criticism of Adams came despite widespread reports of a deal made between the mayor and the Trump administration that involved New York giving greater cooperation than before on immigration The agreement was reached around the same time that the justice department moved to dismiss federal corruption charges against Adams, although the mayor has insisted there was no quid pro quo
Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles had also suffered crime waves, according to Noem, because their mayors and municipalities were 'protecting criminals' by declaring them sanctuary cities, whereby local authorities give only limited cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies
Updated
at 909pm CEST
845pm CEST
20:45
President Donald Trump has appointed Mike Rigas, a Bush-era official from the General Services Administration (GSA), as acting administrator of the agency, Politico reports
The move is seen as a further step by the White House to curb Elon Musk's influence in the GSA, which is one of the federal agencies that Musk's initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) nearly fully controlled
Rigas previously worked under the Trump administration as Deputy Secretary of State for management and resources The former acting administrator was selected by a Musk ally to lead DOGE The Rigas appointment is seen as a strategic move by the White House to rein in DOGE leadership
826pm CEST
20:26
Border czar Tom Homan said Monday that immigration officials will escalate operations in New York and other so-called sanctuary cities
'Sanctuary cities are now our priority,' Homan said 'We're gonna flood the zone'
Homan's comments follow an attempted robbery and shooting of an armed, off-duty customs officer in Manhattan this weekend The New York City Police Commissioner said the officer was not likely targeted due to his employment
When two men approached the off-duty officer to rob him and a companion in a Manhattan park, the officer withdrew a gun and engaged in a shootout with one of the robbers The robber was arrested after being taken to a hospital The customs officer is recovering from gunshots
Trump administration officials have said that so-called sanctuary policies were to blame for the shooting New York and other cities have policies that limit local government cooperation in federal immigration matters
Updated
at 830pm CEST
809pm CEST
20:09
President Donald Trump threatened to appeal a federal judge's decision in Massachusetts amid the ongoing and escalating battle between his administration and Harvard University
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that the federal judge hearing the case is a 'TOTAL DISASTER' and that when 'she rules against us, we will IMMEDIATELY appeal, and WIN'
Massachusetts district judge Judge Allison Burroughs heard arguments from lawyers with Harvard and the federal government on Monday, in a case that may decide whether the Trump administration's attempts to cut billions of dollars in university funding is legal Burroughs has not yet ruled on Monday's arguments
In his Truth Social post, Trump also said Harvard is 'anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-America'
Updated
at 829pm CEST
743pm CEST
19:43
The US Border Patrol chief patrol agent for the El Centro Sector in southern California posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) saying that federal immigration officials 'are not leaving' Los Angeles until 'the mission is accomplished'
'Better get used to us now because this is going to be normal very soon,' Gregory K Bovino, the Border Patrol agent said in a video 'I don't work for [Los Angeles mayor] Karen Bass, the federal government doesn't work for Karen Bass'
Border Patrol and other immigration officials have been conducting operations in Los Angeles to arrest, detain and deport undocumented immigrants The operations gained widespread backlash in early June Protests, opposing immigration arrests, engulfed certain areas of the city
Updated
at 755pm CEST
718pm CEST
19:18
Texas's Republican-led state legislature is pushing to redistrict the state in a way that would favor Republicans when electing House representatives, the Washington Post reports
During the state's special legislative session, beginning today, Trump is pushing for lawmakers to redistrict the state to add up to five more House districts
National Democratic Redistricting Committee, an anti-gerrymandering group, threatened to file lawsuits to stop attempts to redistrict the state
The special session was called by Texas's state governor Greg Abbott after devastating floods in central Texas
700pm CEST
19:00
Four US senators met with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney amid the looming 1 August deadline to strike a new trade and security deal
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is being renegotiated and has faced strain from the Trump administration regarding a few key points, including lumber, digital services taxes and metal tariffs
This is the second congressional delegation to visit the Canadian prime minister in the past three months, Politico reports
Updated
at 755pm CEST
645pm CEST
18:45
Democratic senator Maria Cantwell, from Washington, is pushing for the Trump administration to bolster the US government's weather disaster readiness, after recent tragic floods, hurricanes and wildfires, and as the administration seeks to slash resources
This comes as the Trump administration is pushing to drastically reduce the budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
The Trump administration is looking to cut the NOAA's budget by 27%, a reduction of $22 billion
In a letter, Sen Cantwell made five recommendations They include modernizing weather data collection, funding more research and modernizing alert systems
'Communities across the United States are experiencing more frequent, intense, and costly flash floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, atmospheric rivers, landslides, heatwaves, and wildfires,' Cantwell wrote 'We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create the world's best weather forecasting system that would provide Americans with much more detailed and customized alerts days instead of minutes ahead of a looming extreme weather event'
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