Trump's Border Tsar Vows to "Flood the Zone" with Arrest Squads in Liberal Sanctuary Cities

Strategic Insights -

Tom Homan, the public face of President Trump's operation to deport as many as a million people a year, has vowed to increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in liberal sanctuary cities. Speaking in an interview with The Telegraph, Homan said that protesters will not be able to slow the pace of ICE detentions, and that the agency will continue to increase its operations in cities that protect illegal immigrants.

"We're going to send massive teams, we are going to flood the zone," Homan said. "If we can't arrest the bad guy in jail we'll arrest them in the neighbourhood. If we can't find them there we'll arrest them at a workplace. "So sanctuary cities won't get exactly what they don't want -- more agents in the neighbourhood, more work site enforcement operations."

Homan stated that the number of detentions has slowed since the Trump administration took power, but that the agency is now implementing a broader operation to find migrants wherever they might be. Immigration officers, backed by FBI agents, raided several sites around Los Angeles on Friday, triggering protests that grew into riots over the weekend. The operation was investigating money laundering, tax evasion, and customs fraud at a business.

Homan also stated that the FBI and ICE are investigating several organisations that he believes supplied bricks and gas masks to protesters. "So we know there's a couple organisations that are behind it that's under criminal investigation," he said. "I can't talk about it but we're going to prosecute them to the full extent of the law."

Key Takeaways:

  • The Trump administration is planning to increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in liberal sanctuary cities, with the goal of deporting up to a million people a year.
  • Protesters will not be able to slow the pace of ICE detentions, according to Tom Homan, the public face of the Trump operation.
  • The number of detentions has slowed since the Trump administration took power, but the agency is now implementing a broader operation to find migrants wherever they might be.
  • Immigration officers, backed by FBI agents, raided several sites around Los Angeles on Friday, triggering protests that grew into riots over the weekend.
  • The operation was investigating money laundering, tax evasion, and customs fraud at a business.
  • The FBI and ICE are investigating several organisations that allegedly supplied bricks and gas masks to protesters.

Statistics:

  • 500: The number of cities, counties, and states that the Department of Homeland Security issued a list of, saying they obstructed the Trump administration's deportation plan by protecting illegal immigrants.
  • 140,000: The number of people that have been deported so far this year, according to Tom Homan.
  • 4,000: The number of National Guard troops that President Trump sent to Los Angeles to quell the riots.
  • 700: The number of Marines that President Trump sent to Los Angeles to quell the riots.
  • 1000: The number of people that surrounded the federal building in downtown LA on Friday night, according to Tom Homan.

Sources:

  • The Telegraph
  • The Associated Press