Amidst plans to amplify immigration enforcement, President-elect Donald Trump, together with Tom Homan, intends to shift a significant number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers back to field roles.
According to the New York Post, thousands of ICE officers who handled administrative duties under the Biden-Harris administration will now be reassigned to enforce immigration laws in sanctuary cities.
President-elect Donald Trump and former acting ICE Director Tom Homan have announced a significant policy shift by redirecting ICE resources to increase the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants. They are clearly focusing on cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies, commonly known as sanctuary cities.
The ICE agency, with about 21,000 employees, now plans to reassign up to 70% of officers from desk jobs in key field offices on both coasts to frontline enforcement roles. This decision follows a period when ICE assigned many officers to administrative positions, thus reducing field experience among a large portion of the workforce.
As a result, this shift is expected to challenge officers, many of whom haven't performed field arrests recently due to their roles under the previous administration. However, concerns are emerging about whether enough manpower and resources will support this aggressive strategy change.
Meanwhile, Tom Homan, who is set to return as the acting director of ICE, expressed his intent to resume more aggressive enforcement actions, including worksite raids that have been halted since October 2021. Overall, this change signals a shift toward prioritizing public safety and national security threats under the incoming administration.
The anticipation of stricter immigration enforcement under Trump's administration has already influenced migrant behavior, leading to increases in border crossings. For example, a Venezuelan family cited the impending tougher immigration policies as their reason for crossing into Eagle Pass, Texas.
This policy realignment will require additional resources and funding, especially for detention facilities, to handle an expected increase in arrests and deportations. However, ICE has struggled to fill vacancies, largely due to budgetary constraints under the Biden-Harris administration.
An unnamed ICE source emphasized the agency’s readiness to intensify arrest efforts, stating, "And if that’s still not enough, then they’ll probably mandate adding more officers to the arrest team to make more arrests."
Critics argue that a hurried reassignment of ICE officers to field duties could lead to operational challenges, especially for those lacking recent arrest experience. Furthermore, the significant redeployment may strain existing resources and exacerbate difficulties in managing new operational directives without adequate federal funding.
Moreover, ICE insiders have raised concerns related to the funding and manpower necessary to execute these extensive deportation plans. One source faulted the previous administration for what they described as de facto defunding, stating, "They’re not able to fill them because they don’t have the funding for them" and "They defunded us without really saying it."
Meanwhile, the eagerness among officers to return to the field is palpable. For instance, one officer expressed enthusiasm for returning to active enforcement, stating, "can't wait to get back onto the streets." In addition, Tom Homan emphasized the urgency of the operational changes, announcing during an interview that if local jurisdictions are uncooperative, "If they’re not willing to do it, then get out of the way — we’re coming."
As the Trump administration prepares to realign ICE’s focus toward heightened enforcement in sanctuary cities, the significant policy shift underscores a major departure from the prior administration's approach. With both old and new challenges at the forefront, this policy move will likely shape the landscape of U.S. immigration enforcement in the coming years. Ultimately, the administration insists that this realignment is necessary to enforce immigration laws and enhance public safety, arguing that the Biden-Harris tenure undermined these priorities.
