Border Czar Tom Homan ripped into Zohran Mamdani, a far-left progressive who received the most votes in New York City’s Democratic primary mayoral race earlier this week, telling the Democratic socialist that it’s “game on.”
Mamdani has made many outrageous campaign promises, vowing free services, rent control, $30 minimum wage and government-run grocery stores among other things. He’s pledged to “kick the fascist ICE out of New York City” and defund the New York Police Department and replace them with social workers.
Homan appeared on FOX Business’ “Kudlow,” speaking to Larry Kudlow on Wednesday, and had this message for Mamdani:
“Good luck with that. Federal law trumps him every day,” Homan said. “We’re going to be in New York City. Matter fact, because this is a sanctuary city, Trump made it clear a week and a half ago, we’re gonna double down, triple down on sanctuary cities.”
New York City’s sanctuary policies allow illegal immigrants who have been arrested for crimes to be released back into the community, so ICE has to send additional teams into neighborhoods to find them.
“If we can’t arrest the bad guy in the county jail, and they release them in the streets like New York Does every day, we have to send a whole team to look for this guy,” Homan said. “…We know they are releasing public safety threats back into the streets. Now we’re sending more agents to the neighborhood. If we can’t find them in the neighborhood, we’ll find them at the worksite. So, game on, we’re coming.”
Homan added that ICE doesn’t have that problem in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis and local law enforcement cooperate with ICE agents.
Mamdani, who if elected would become New York’s first Muslim mayor, has amassed a large social media following, backed by fellow radical leftist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, who has served since 2019 as the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th congressional district.
The New York Post reported Mamdani has vowed to “Trump-proof” the Big Apple if he is elected mayor and reject “Trump’s fascism.” He claims the president has “deployed ICE agents to pluck New Yorkers from their families,” according to his campaign website.
“Zohran Mamdani will fight Trump’s attempts to gouge the working class, and deliver a city where everyone can afford a dignified life. He’ll ensure our immigrant New Yorkers are protected by strengthening our sanctuary city apparatus: getting ICE out of all City facilities and ending any cooperation, increasing legal support, and protecting all personal data,” the campaign site says.
The 33-year-old Astoria, Queens assemblyman declared victory in the NYC Democratic primary on Tuesday, beating out former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City comptroller Brad Lander.
Similar to other Democratic politicians staging public theatrics, Mamdani made a scene inside New York’s Statehouse in March over immigration enforcement. He shouted at Homan as he walked the halls of the state capital, before publishing the footage six months into his primary campaign, The Post reported.
Mamdani was protesting ICE’s arrest of former Columbia University student and anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, who had been detained for lying on his visa forms. State troopers removed Mamdani during the March 12 stunt but was released without being charged.
In the closing days of the campaign, Mamdani was accused of fostering antisemitism when he defended his use of the term “globalize the intifada.”
“It is time for Mr. Mamdani to move from disturbance to responsibility and to unambiguously reject and rein in these actors with whom he has been strongly associated,” said Rabbi Moshe Hauer, vice-president of the Orthodox Union, in a report from The Guardian. “He needs to prioritize the safety and security of New Yorkers over his ‘strong feelings about what happens overseas’.”
Lander recently made his own headlines after getting arrested by federal agents because he would not let go of an illegal immigrant after an immigration hearing in New York.
Lander, another Democratic socialist, cross-endorsed Mamdani earlier this month in a now viral, joint campaign to rank one another and defeat Cuomo. Lander’s post about Mamdani leading echoed that initial message: “Hope and solidarity won tonight, and will win again in November.”
The current mayor, Eric Adams, plans to run as an independent candidate in November. He failed to mount a Democrat primary challenge while being mired in a fundraising scandal, among other controversies related to the migrant crisis.
In recent months, Adams has worked with the Trump administration and Homan to crack down on illegal criminals and gangs, particularly MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, that have preyed on innocent New Yorkers.
Homan lauded Mayor Adams for helping ICE operations in New York.
“He wants to do the right thing, he wants to be a law-and-order mayor,” Homan said, per The Post report.
Adams later blasted Mamdani on FOX News’ “Fox & Friends,” calling Mamdani a “snake oil salesman” who “was saying anything to get elected” and had run on a platform of promises he won’t be able to keep, including raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers.
Adams’ mayoral campaign account posted on X after Mamdani declared victory:
I've fought for this city as your mayor, managing 300,000+ employees and a $115 billion budget that have added more cops and made our streets and subways safer, delivered record amounts of housing, cleaned our streets, and helped create more jobs and small businesses than ever… pic.twitter.com/BRBxmltv7S
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) June 26, 2025
“I’ve fought for this city as your mayor, managing 300,000+ employees and a $115 billion budget that have added more cops and made our streets and subways safer, delivered record amounts of housing, cleaned our streets, and helped create more jobs and small businesses than ever before in the city’s history. We’re not about to throw away all that progress to a socialist who will tear it all down with false promises he can’t keep. The cruelest thing one can do to a family in need is to promise them something that you can’t deliver. Please join me in this fight to protect our city.”
