ICE Director Plans Charge Sanctuary City Officials with Smuggling

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director is planning to take strict action against the sanctuary city leaders for not only being uncooperative, but for being a “criminal’s best friend.”  

Thomas Homan, the acting ICE director, said he is planning to charge sanctuary city’s leaders for violating anti-smuggling laws. This is in response to how the police departments in these cities have been releasing illegal immigrants from jail, instead of notifying the ICE like they should be.

The ICE has aggressive deportation goals.  

“I think 409,000 is a stretch this year, but if [the Justice Department] keeps going in the direction they’re going in, if we continue to expand our operational footprint, I think we’re going to get there,” said Homan to The Washington Times. “Our interior arrests will go up. They’re going to top last year’s for sure.”

Sanctuary cities officials aren’t the only ones resisting ICE officers, the use-of-force by migrants has gone up by 150%.  

Not to mention, it is much more dangerous and time consuming for ICE agents to try to track down an illegal immigrant that has been released from jail.  

“When we knock on doors, as any law enforcement officer will tell you, it’s risky, it’s dangerous. Compare that to arresting someone in the jail, when you know they don’t have weapons in the jail,” said Homan. “It’s a matter of time before one of my officers is seriously hurt or doesn’t go home because someone made a political decision on the backs of my officers.”  

So the sanctuary city police departments are putting federal agents in danger to protect unlawful citizens. 

“I think these sanctuary cities need to make sure they’re on the right side of the law. They need to look at this. Because I am,” said Homan.  

He also said the ICE will be specifically focusing on these areas and it’s not a safe haven for illegal immigrants.

“I’ll say it once again — sanctuary cities are a criminal’s best friend. If you are an alien smuggler and you are smuggling people illegally into this country, that’s one sales pitch. We can get you to a sanctuary city where that city will help shield you from immigration,” said Homan. “If you are in a sanctuary city, that’s where we are going to send additional resources to look for you at your home, your place of employment. We are going to enforce the law.”

Homan has been heavily criticized for his strict stance on immigration. Joan Walsh, a MSNBC political analyst, likened the ICE to a criminal gang and Homan as its leader.

“Wow, the head of a violent gang is taking the podium at the White House. The head of ICE. Ask good questions please, WH press corps,” tweeted Walsh. “They are the deadliest gang.”

But Homan has made it clear that he won’t be backing down and pointed to some examples of why immigration laws should be taken seriously.  

“People who don’t think we should enforce immigration law — I wish they’d hang out with me for a week,” said Homan. “I wish they were with me in Phoenix, Arizona — people held hostage. A guy with duct tape all over his body, with a hole poked out in his mouth where he breathed through a straw for days, until they paid his fee. They weren’t with me on the trail in the Border Patrol where we found dead aliens abandoned by smugglers. They weren’t with me standing in the back of that traffic trailer with a 5-year-old boy who suffocated in his father’s arms.”

Author’s note: Homan continues to apply more pressure on sanctuary cities. The legal consequences for breaking federal laws are serious and the ICE isn’t going to let the sanctuary cities get away with it anymore.