U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is sending a strong message to sanctuary cities. In an interview with the Washington Examiner this week, ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan called the idea of sanctuary cities "ludicrous" and pledged a new effort to root out illegal aliens in those sanctuary jurisdictions. Specifically, Homan reported he's received clearance from the Trump Administration to hire 10,000 additional ICE agents. Those agents will be used to find and arrest illegal criminals nationwide, especially in the growing number of cities and counties with sanctuary policies in place.
An ICE spokesperson told KTRH the agency is hoping to encourage cities to cooperate with federal authorities on immigration requests. "If a city releases a criminal alien from their custody, then that takes more resources for ICE to locate that person, go out with a team of people and conduct a safe arrest. It puts the community at more risk, it puts that person at more risk, and it also puts our officers at greater risk."
As for where exactly these 10,000 new agents will be going, the ICE spokesperson says that's still to be determined. "It's really an alignment of resources where they are needed, based on the cooperation or non-cooperation we're getting from jurisdictions. And jurisdictions that don't cooperate mean that we need more resources in those places."
While outlining ICE's future plans in the interview, Homan also spoke of current successes at the agency since President Trump took office. He said illegal border crossings are down by 70 percent and arrests of illegal aliens in the country are up 40 percent. Homan summed it up by saying President Trump has "taken the handcuffs off law enforcement" when it comes to addressing immigration.