Tom Homan threatened to “flood the zone” with ICE agents if New York dared pass legislation limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
New York passed it anyway.
“Tom Homan can shove it,” New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes told reporters Thursday after lawmakers approved a sweeping package of immigration accountability measures backed by Governor Kathy Hochul.
The legislation directly responds to growing fears over aggressive federal immigration operations and the expanding role ICE agents have played in Democratic-led states over the past year.
One of the new laws restricts the NYPD and other local police agencies from assisting ICE with crowd control or operational support during immigration raids.
Lawmakers pointed specifically to events earlier this year in Minnesota, where Operation Metro Surge brought heavily armed federal agents into Minneapolis neighborhoods, leading to violent confrontations, protests, and the deaths of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot by federal agents during the operation.
Another provision bans ICE agents and law enforcement officers from wearing masks during enforcement operations, a direct attempt to stop anonymous raids carried out by unidentified federal personnel.
A third measure establishes a list of protected “sensitive locations” where ICE agents cannot enter without first obtaining a judicial warrant.
Supporters argue the laws are not radical, but basic accountability protections designed to ensure federal enforcement actions follow constitutional safeguards and judicial oversight.
“These are guardrails,” one Democratic lawmaker said privately after the vote. “Not immunity.”
Homan, who has repeatedly threatened Democratic-led states and cities over immigration policies, has spent months warning governors and local officials that the federal government would escalate operations in places refusing to fully cooperate with ICE.
He previously targeted Chicago and Minnesota with similar rhetoric before federal crackdowns intensified there.
In Minnesota, those threats were followed by one of the most controversial immigration operations of Trump’s second term.
New York lawmakers made clear they were unwilling to allow similar tactics to unfold unchecked in their own state.
Importantly, the new laws do not prevent ICE from carrying out federal immigration enforcement.
Instead, they limit the ability of local agencies to participate in those operations while requiring greater transparency and judicial oversight from federal agents operating inside New York communities.
Critics of the legislation argue it will make immigration enforcement more difficult and create conflicts between state and federal authorities.
Supporters counter that local police should not be turned into an extension of federal deportation squads and that masked, unidentified agents should never be operating freely in civilian neighborhoods without accountability.
As legal challenges now appear likely, New York officials signaled they are prepared for a court fight.
“Tom Homan can flood whatever zone he wants,” one Democratic strategist close to the negotiations said after passage. “New York will see him in court.”
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