Border Czar Homan Promises 'Mass Deportations Are Coming' at Phoenix Border Security Expo, Vows to 'Flood the Zone' in Sanctuary Jurisdictions

White House border czar Tom Homan, speaking at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, told the assembled audience of federal-enforcement contractors and personnel that “the mass deportation promise will happen” and pledged to “flood the zone” with immigration officers in jurisdictions that pass legislation limiting cooperation with federal enforcement. Homan stated: “You will see collateral arrests increase in these areas. You see more agents in your neighborhoods because you forced us in this position.” Immigration officers arrested more than half a million undocumented immigrants in the past year and are currently making about 1,200 arrests per day — well below President Trump’s campaign promise of one million deportations annually.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul publicly responded the same day: “Donald Trump himself said he would not send a surge of ICE agents to the state of NY unless I ask. I’m not asking.” The exchange marks a hardening of the federal-state confrontation pattern over sanctuary policy: the administration is now publicly threatening enforcement-volume escalation as collective punishment for state-level non-cooperation. The Border Security Expo venue itself — a contractor trade show — signals Homan’s rhetoric is also a procurement announcement: increased enforcement volume requires increased detention bed-space, transport capacity, and surveillance technology, all sold by exhibitors at the event. This connects to the documented detention-warehouse buildout (152 new ICE facilities across 39 states since January 2025) and to the ongoing federal-judicial fight over the executive order restricting mail voting (where the Trump administration’s response brief was due May 7, 2026 — see 2026-04-03–23-states-sue-trump-mail-voting-executive-order).