Immigration enforcement operations in sanctuary cities are now the priority of the Trump administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will “flood the zone” with agents, according to “border czar” Tom Homan. The announcement came after two immigrants in the country unlawfully shot an off-duty Customs and Border Protection Agent in the face during an apparent botched robbery in New York City.
“So sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want. More agents in the community and more agents in the work site,” Homan told reporters Monday, July 21.
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“And when we arrest him in the community, if he’s with others that are in the country illegally, they’re coming too,” Homan said.
UPDATE: footage shows two assailants, one an illegal alien with criminal charges, ambushing and shooting a @CBP officer yesterday in New York City. pic.twitter.com/m4BHRjhXpD
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 20, 2025
Homan’s comments came a day after Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said agents will arrest anyone they encounter who is in the country illegally, even if that person is not the target of an arrest warrant and doesn’t have a criminal record. Lyons said they are still prioritizing those with criminal histories.
Who are the suspects?
Both suspects in the New York City shooting have arrest records, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
Francisco Mora Nunez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, entered the country unlawfully in Arizona on April 4, 2023 and was released. He has a criminal arrest warrant in Massachusetts for kidnapping.
Christhian Aybar-Berroa entered the country illegally in 2022 and was given a final order for removal from an immigration judge in 2023.
Noem said Aybar-Berroa has a criminal record in New York. The city ignored detainer requests from the federal government due to its sanctuary city policies. The arrests in New York City include reckless endangerment and larceny.
If New York honored the detainer request, they would have informed ICE that Aybar-Berroa was in their custody and held him up to 48 hours beyond his scheduled release so that ICE could take custody of him.
As ICE explained, it is safer to take custody of immigrants slated for deportation in a safe, controlled environment rather than at-large in the community. The agency described at-large arrests as unpredictable and dangerous to the public, officers and immigrants themselves.
“You don’t want to let us in the jail to let us arrest a bad guy in the safety and security of a jail, you want to release them into the street where it makes it unsafe for the community, makes it unsafe for the officer, makes it unsafe for the alien. Cause anything can happen in an on-the-street arrest,” Homan said.
Both Homan and Noem repeatedly blamed New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ policies for the shooting.
Adams responded to the incident Sunday night and said the suspects “should have never been on our streets.”
Adams said while local officers do not participate in civil immigration operations, they need to work with federal officials to go after violent criminals.
