Washington Examiner

Federal immigration officers have arrested nearly 6,500 immigrants in the country illegally who have criminal histories across New York City since President Donald Trump took office, according to a senior White House official, who said the crackdown was well underway.

White House border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday that his promised surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and other federal law enforcement to the city did not mean that ICE was not already making significant arrests across the five boroughs.

“I looked at the data this morning, my chief of staff. We’ve got just shy of 6,500 criminal illegal aliens we took off the streets of New York,” Homan said.

Homan has promised since May to blitz the sanctuary city with ICE in the near future, but has yet to follow through. When pressed repeatedly by a Fox News co-host for specifics on the operation, Homan explained that disclosing that type of information could risk officer safety and prompt criminals to flee.

“What makes you think we’re not already there? We’ve got to remember ICE is operating in New York City today. We’re operating across the state today, but there’s going to be a surge and there needs to be surge,” Homan said. “But I am not going to show our hand because, you know, there are groups, well-funded groups that will try to interfere, impair, but we’re not going to give them any upside on this.”

Federal immigration officials had seen initial cooperation with the city under former Mayor Eric Adams, who said he would let ICE into the city’s jail at Rikers Island.

However, the election of Zohran Mamdani in November ended any federal-local cooperation.