Mass Deportations Will Start in Chicago, Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan Says

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for border czar, Tom Homan, said plans for a large-scale operation to deport illegal immigrants would begin in Chicago, warning local officials not to stand in the way.

“We’re going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois. If your Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he needs to step aside,” Homan told the crowd at a Dec. 9 event in Chicago co-organized by the Northwest Side GOP Club. “But if he impedes us—if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien—I will prosecute him.”

Trump campaigned on the promise to secure the border and deport anyone residing in the country illegally, with estimates of the illegal immigrant population in the United States ranging from around 11 million to 21 million. The president-elect has also vowed to end birthright citizenship, although he recently signaled willingness to work with Democrats on a plan that would exclude individuals who entered the United States illegally as children—often referred to as Dreamers—from the mass deportations.

Homan, who during Trump’s first term served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is the man the president-elect has designated to oversee the removals. While the specifics of the operation remain unclear, Homan has said that the effort would prioritize the removal of criminals and gang members.

However, he has urged other illegal immigrants to self-deport, warning it’s just a matter of time before they’re caught and deported. He also has vowed to recommend that federal funds be blocked from cities that do not assist ICE agents in their efforts.

A number of Democratic lawmakers and city officials have condemned the mass deportation plan, arguing that it would disrupt long-established families and harm the economy.

Among the critics is Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who in his first public remarks on the results of the presidential election said that city officials would continue to shield illegal immigrants from deportation and that he would not allow Chicago police officers to cooperate with ICE.

Johnson also vowed to fight any attempts to withhold federal funding from Chicago, calling such threats “unconscionable and dangerous.”

In his remarks at Monday’s event in Chicago, Homan said the city would see an influx of ICE agents after Trump is sworn in. He warned city officials to get “out of the way,” while vowing to sue sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE.

Much like Chicago’s mayor, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has also vowed to oppose any efforts to deport illegal immigrants. Pritzker’s spokesman, Matt Hill, issued a statement to multiple media outlets in response to Homan’s remarks.

“It’s no secret that Illinois will face countless, baseless attacks over the next four years from the Trump administration,” he said in the statement. “Rather than responding to every ridiculous boast from Trump lackeys, Gov. Pritzker is focused on what he was focused on during the first Trump term: leading our state with competence instead of chaos.”

While Trump’s deportation effort faces opposition from Illinois and some other blue states, Republican-led ones like Texas have promised to lend a helping hand.

“Texas will continue working with President Donald Trump and Border Czar Homan to secure the border,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a recent post on X, calling his state’s approach to border security “the national blueprint.”

Operation Lone Star, a border security initiative Texas launched in 2021, has resulted in significant reductions in unlawful crossings, with more than 527,600 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 49,000 criminal arrests, according to Abbott’s office.