Rep. Adelita Grijalva calls Homan’s ICE warning a ‘flat out’ threat to Arizona communities

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero pushed back Wednesday after Trump “border czar” Tom Homan threatened cities that don’t cooperate with ICE with a surge of federal agents and more “collateral arrests.”

Homan, the public face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation push, made the remarks Tuesday at the 2026 Border Security Expo in Phoenix, an annual gathering of federal officials, law enforcement and private contractors.

“You’re gonna see more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen before,” Homan told the audience. “You’re gonna see collateral arrests increase in these areas. You’re gonna see more agents in your neighborhoods because you forced us in this position.”

In a joint statement, Grijalva and Romero called Homan’s remarks a direct threat to local communities.

“Let’s not sugarcoat this. What Tom Homan said is a threat. Flat out,” the two officials said in a news release. “He’s saying that if cities don’t fall in line, he’s going to flood our neighborhoods with federal agents. And when he talks about ‘collateral arrests,’ we know exactly what that means. It’s not just targets, it’s everyone: parents, workers, people who’ve lived here for years getting swept up for simply being in the wrong place.”

Adelita Grijalva said ‘collateral’ arrests would damage the public’s safety

Grijalva and Romero said the tactics described by Homan would erode public safety by discouraging immigrant residents from reporting crimes or cooperating with local police.

“Law enforcement leaders across this country know that when immigrant families are too afraid to report crimes or cooperate with police, entire communities become less safe,” they said. “Local leaders aren’t the problem here, they’re the ones actually trying to keep our communities safe.”

Homan told the expo audience that completing border security and expanding interior enforcement remained a top priority.

 

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“As long as I’m the border czar, we’re gonna enforce every one of them,” he said.

Homan estimated that roughly 40% of those arrested by ICE have no criminal record but said no one in the country illegally is “off the table.”

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