President Donald Trump’s newly elected border czar, Tom Homan, has said the administration is reconsidering immigration raids in Chicago and New York after details were leaked in news reports.
Homan, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the WashingtonPost that the new government ‘has not yet made a decision.’
“We are investigating this leak and will make a decision based on this leak,” Homan said. “It’s unfortunate because anyone who leaks law enforcement operations puts officers in grave danger.”
ICE had set its sights on the Democratic-led city of Chicago and New York as its first targets for mass deportations, with a raid expected on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Trump’s second inauguration.
It was reported that the operation would last an entire week and that between 100 and 200 officers would complete the job.
News of the raids leaked after the Chicago City Council rejected an effort to have police cooperate with immigration enforcement.
“We intend to stand by and protect Chicago’s immigrant communities from threats from ICE,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said after the vote.
Homan next appeared on Fox News, where he was asked by host Jesse Watters if he was “blowing your cover” by asking about the “big raid” in Chicago.
President-elect Donald Trump’s handpicked “border czar” Tom Homan has said the administration is reconsidering immigration raids in Chicago and New York City after details were leaked in news reports

ICE had set its sights on the Democratic-led cities of Chicago and New York as the first targets for mass deportations, with a raid expected on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

“We are investigating this leak and will make a decision based on this leak,” Homan said. “It’s unfortunate because anyone who leaks law enforcement operations is putting officers in grave danger.”
‘Or do you want people to know? Maybe they can deport themselves,” Watters said.
“There will be a major raid across the country. Chicago is just one of many places,” Homan said. ‘ICE is finally going to do its job. We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them arrest criminal aliens. That’s what’s going to happen.’
Homan told the Post he didn’t know why Chicago “became a point of interest” and said the new administration’s enforcement goals are much broader than one city.
“ICE will begin arresting threats to public safety and national security from day one. We will arrest people across the country, unchecked by any previous government directives. Why Chicago was specifically mentioned, I don’t know,” he said.
“This is a national thing. We don’t sweep neighborhoods. We have a targeted enforcement plan.”
Multi-day raids are expected from coast to coast, according to a person with knowledge of the plans.
“We will be conducting operations across the country,” the person told Reuters on Friday. “You’ll see arrests in New York. You will see arrests in Miami.”
Homan previously told a crowd at the Northwest Side GOP holiday party that “Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks.”

“We intend to protect Chicago’s immigrant communities from the threats of ICE,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said

‘However, we are going to enforce the law. So if you put yourself in that position, it’s up to you. You can take a child home or they just stay there, but you don’t get a pass,” Homan said, explaining that parents of Dreamers — the children of immigrants born in the U.S. — have two options.
He then called them both “terrible,” while also urging them to follow in New York Mayor Eric Adams’ footsteps and “come to the table” for discussions, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
Homan also warned Johnson, who had vowed to fight the Trump administration’s deportation plan, not to “hinder” his efforts.
“If he won’t help, get the hell out of his way. “If he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien, I will prosecute him,” he said.
Homan said he would work to verify the status of asylum seekers and arrest anyone harboring criminal migrants.
He reiterated that there is no plan to separate families, although he suggested “it could happen.”
“My goal is to enforce the law, but if you put yourself in that position, it can happen,” he said. “But there is currently no plan in this government to separate families.”
‘However, we are going to enforce the law. So if you put yourself in that position, it’s up to you. You can take a child home or they can just stay there, but you don’t get a pass,” he said, explaining that parents of Dreamers — the children of immigrants born in the U.S. — have two options.
Homan and other Trump aides have said they hope immigrants living in the United States illegally will leave on their own, or “self-deport,” for fear of arrest.
Homan had previously criticized immigration raid advertising during the Trump administration in 2018. He called the mayor of Oakland, California “reckless” and “irresponsible” for warning city residents of a planned raid.

Chicago has seen more than 50,000 migrants flock to the Windy City since August 2022
He then noted that after the report was leaked, ICE made 150 arrests but missed 864 fugitives.
Acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, John Sandweg, said he was surprised the raids were discussed in advance.
“Historically, this is something we have paid very close attention to for security reasons,” he said, adding that fugitives “go and hide. It completely undermines the effectiveness of the operation by telegraphing that you are coming.”
He added that it is also unusual for ICE to start planning raids before the new leadership is sworn in. The official policy remains under Biden’s control, who focused on more serious offenders than those who are exclusively undocumented.
‘It’s incredibly unusual. This is not like policy making or briefings, the normal things you see in transition,” Sandweg said. ‘This is actual operational planning for an operation that must take place on the first day of an administration. That’s weird.’
Advocates in Chicago said rumors of raids began circulating on social media on Wednesday, the Post reported. One WhatsApp group warned that a “reliable source” had confirmed that ICE would patrol the city from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Inauguration Day and “detain people on their way to work or home” the next day.
Immigration Justice for the Resurrection Project vice president Eréndira Rendón said, “We expected Chicago to be a target, but the message is the same: you have to be as prepared as possible.”