President Donald Trump's border czar issued a stark warning to Zohran Mamdani the day after the Democrat's stunning victory in New York City mayoral primary.
Tom Homan appeared on Fox Business to address Mamdani's pledge to stop cooperating with ICE in the so-called sanctuary city.
'Good luck with that,' Homan said bluntly when asked about Mamdani's plan to block ICE access. 'Federal law trumps him... every day, every hour of every minute.'
Homan then promised to 'double down' on ICE raids in the Big Apple.
'We're going to be in New York City,' he continued.
'Matter of fact, because it's a sanctuary city and President Trump made it clear a week and a half ago, we're going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities.'
Homan's remarks comes only weeks after Trump unveiled what he described as the 'largest mass deportation operation of illegal aliens in history.'
He has vowed to flood other major Democrat-led cities including Chicago, and New York with ICE agents as part of a sweeping new immigration crackdown.
'Game on. We're coming,' Homan added. 'He wants to block ICE? We'll see how that works out for him.'
Mamdani, 33, a state assemblyman from Queens and son of Ugandan-Indian immigrants, shocked the political establishment on Tuesday night by defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary's first round.
The win positions him as the likely next mayor of New York in a city that leans heavily Democratic.
Tom Homan, Trump's top immigration enforcer appointed has made clear the federal government is preparing to escalate its immigration crackdown
Weeks ago, Trump unveiled what he described as the 'largest mass deportation operation of illegal aliens in history,' vowing to flood other major Democrat-led cities
Mamdani has leaned into the fight, calling himself 'Trump's worst nightmare' and promising in his victory speech to turn New York into a model for progressive governance
His platform is unapologetically left-wing: rent freezes, free child care, no-cost public transit, and an end to city cooperation with ICE.
On his campaign website, he accuses Trump of 'tearing at the fabric of New York City.'
He outlines plans to 'Trump-proof' the city by ejecting ICE from Rikers Island, cutting all municipal collaboration with federal immigration authorities, and shielding undocumented New Yorkers from data-sharing with outside jurisdictions.
'Trump will stop at nothing to attack immigrant New Yorkers,' Mamdani writes. 'He will do everything in his power to rip our communities apart.'
That rhetoric has put him on a collision course with Homan and the Trump administration, which is seeking to carry out daily immigration arrests at three times the current pace - a demand made by senior White House advisor Stephen Miller last month.
President Trump himself weighed in Wednesday morning on Mamdani's victory, posting on Truth Social:
'It's finally happened. The Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor.'
'We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous,' Trump added, mocking Mamdani's voice and appearance. 'He's got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him... Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!'
Homan made it clear that cities like New York would become ground zero in President Donald Trump's renewed deportation efforts
Trump's remarks echoed those of Republican leaders nationwide, who have seized on Mamdani's win as a gift in an otherwise fractured Democratic year.
On Fox Business, Homan made it clear that cities like New York would become ground zero in Trump's renewed deportation effort.
'If we can't arrest them in the jails, we're going to find them in the neighborhoods, we're going to find them in the worksites,' he said.
Homan criticized Democratic-run cities for refusing to hold undocumented individuals for ICE agents, calling sanctuary policies 'a threat to public safety' and accusing them of releasing 'national security threats back to the street.'
He praised states like Florida, where sheriffs 'work for us,' but said the resistance in cities like New York only encourages federal agents to focus their energy there.
'We know we've got a problem there,' Homan said, warning that enforcement efforts would become more aggressive.
The Democratic response to Mamdani's rise has been sharply divided.
Progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders have embraced him. But some establishment Democrats had rallied behind Cuomo, citing concerns about Mamdani's far-left platform and past criticism of Israel.
Many Democrats remain nervous that Mamdani could become a liability in swing districts ahead of the 2026 midterms, but others say his candidacy is exactly what the party needs
Still, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a carefully worded congratulations on X.
'He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity,' Schumer wrote.
Behind the scenes, many Democrats remain nervous that Mamdani could become a liability in swing districts ahead of the 2026 midterms. But others say his candidacy is exactly what the party needs to energize disaffected youth and working-class voters.
Mamdani has leaned into the fight, calling himself 'Trump's worst nightmare' and promising in his victory speech to turn New York into a model for progressive governance.
'These elections aren't about left, right, or center,' he told supporters on Tuesday night. 'They're about whether you're a change to the status quo.'
If elected, Mamdani would become New York City's first Muslim and Indian-American mayor.
But before he gets there, the race heads into a ranked-choice general election, where he will face Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, independent Jim Walden, and possibly Cuomo, who has not ruled out continuing his campaign.