President-elect Donald Trump’s newly appointed “border czar,” Tom Homan, stated that the administration is reconsidering planned immigration raids in Chicago and New York after sensitive details were leaked to the press.

Homan, who previously served as the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told The Washington Post that a final decision regarding the raids had not been made.

“We’re looking at this leak and will make a decision based on this leak,” Homan said. “It’s unfortunate because anyone leaking law enforcement operations puts officers at great risk.”

ICE had initially targeted Chicago and New York City, both under Democratic leadership, for mass deportation raids scheduled to begin less than a day after Trump’s second inauguration. These operations were reportedly planned to last a full week, involving 100 to 200 officers.

The leaks came shortly after Chicago’s City Council voted against allowing local police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

“We intend to stand by and protect Chicago’s immigrant communities against threats from ICE,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said following the council’s decision.

In an appearance on Fox News, Homan was asked by host Jesse Watters whether discussing the raids publicly risked “blowing your cover.”

“Or do you want people to know? Maybe they can self-deport,” Watters suggested.

“There’s going to be a big raid all across the country. Chicago is just one of many places,” Homan responded. “ICE is finally going to do their job. We’re going to take the handcuffs off of ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens. That’s what’s going to happen.”

Homan told The Washington Post that he was unsure why Chicago had been singled out in reports, emphasizing that the administration’s enforcement strategy extended far beyond a single city.

“ICE will start arresting public safety threats and national security threats on day one. We’ll be arresting people across the country, uninhibited by any prior administration guidelines. Why Chicago was specifically mentioned, I don’t know,” he said.

“This is a nationwide thing. We’re not sweeping neighborhoods. We have a targeted enforcement plan.”

A source familiar with the plans told Reuters that raids were expected to occur over several days and span multiple cities.

“We’re going to be doing operations all across the country,” the source said. “You’re going to see arrests in New York. You’re going to see arrests in Miami.”

Homan, speaking at a GOP holiday event on Chicago’s Northwest Side, criticized both the city’s mayor and Illinois’ governor, calling them “terrible” leaders.

“Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks,” he said. He urged local officials to take a more cooperative stance, citing New York City Mayor Eric Adams as an example of someone willing to engage in discussions.

Homan also issued a stark warning to Mayor Johnson, who had vowed to oppose the administration’s deportation efforts.

“If he doesn’t want to help, get the hell out of the way. If he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien – I will prosecute him,” Homan stated.

He noted plans to verify the legal status of asylum seekers and promised to take action against anyone found harboring criminal migrants.

Homan clarified that the administration did not intend to separate families but acknowledged that it could occur under certain circumstances.

“My goal is to enforce the law, but if you put yourself in that position, it may happen,” he explained. “But there’s no plan in this administration right now to separate families.”

“However, we’re going to enforce the law. So, if you put yourself in that position, it’s on you. You can either take a child home with you or they just stay there, but you don’t get a pass,” he said, addressing the options available to parents of Dreamers, children of migrants born in the U.S.

Homan, along with other Trump administration officials, expressed hope that undocumented immigrants would choose to leave the country voluntarily out of fear of arrest, a process referred to as “self-deportation.”

In the past, Homan had criticized public announcements of planned immigration raids, particularly when the Oakland, California mayor warned residents of a pending ICE operation in 2018.

“That was reckless and irresponsible,” he said, adding that after the leak, ICE managed to arrest 150 individuals but missed 864 fugitives.

John Sandweg, who served as ICE acting director under the Obama administration, voiced surprise at the open discussion of the raids.

“Historically this is something we kept very close wraps on for officer safety reasons,” he said, noting that advanced warnings could cause fugitives to hide, undermining the operation’s effectiveness.

He also found it unusual for ICE to begin planning enforcement actions before the new administration was officially sworn in, particularly while policies from the outgoing Biden administration were still in effect.

“It’s incredibly unusual. This isn’t like policymaking or briefings, the normal stuff you see in transition,” Sandweg commented. “This is actual operational planning for an operation to take place on the first day of an administration. That’s weird.”

In Chicago, rumors about the planned raids began circulating on social media platforms midweek. Messages on WhatsApp warned of ICE patrols between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Inauguration Day and the following day, targeting people traveling to and from work.

Eréndira Rendón, Vice President of Immigration Justice at the Resurrection Project, acknowledged the rumors.

“We anticipated Chicago would be a target, but the message is the same: You should be as prepared as possible,” she said.

{Matzav.com}