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NYC Dems go after Trump’s 'border czar' in Albany over Mahmoud Khalil arrest
By
Jon Campbell
Published Mar 12, 2025
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Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images
By
Jon Campbell
Published Mar 12, 2025
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A trip to New York’s Capitol on Wednesday put a top Trump administration official face to face with New York City lawmakers angered over the Republican president’s anti-immigrant posture, including the recent arrest of a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University.
President Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan met with Republican lawmakers in Albany before headlining a news conference on GOP-sponsored bills that would repeal some of New York’s pro-immigrant policies and force the state to cooperate more with federal officials.
Several dozen Democrats gathered outside the door as Homan spoke with the press, and angrily confronted him and followed him down the hall as he exited while chomping on an apple. It contrasted sharply with Homan's reception at City Hall, where Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has extended his cooperation with Trump's immigration crackdown as the administration moved to dismiss the federal corruption charges against him.
Police and security guards struggled to control the crowd as Homan waved and smirked at protesters — while still holding his apple — as he approached an elevator.
Among the critics was Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a Queens Democrat running for mayor, who got within a foot or two of Homan and shouted: “Do you believe in the First Amendment, Tom Homan? What charges did you detain [Columbia activist] Mahmoud Khalil on?”
“No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” the protesters chanted as Homan walked by.
Khalil, who is facing deportation, has not yet been formally charged with a crime.
Homan was in Albany to pledge his support for a pair of state-level bills, including one that would repeal New York’s “green light” law, which allows immigrants to obtain a driver’s license regardless of their immigration status and prohibits federal officials from accessing motor vehicle records.
During the press conference, Homan denied any connection between Adams’ immigration cooperation and the feds’ dismissal request, which remains pending before a federal judge.
“I’ve been talking to him since November,” Homan said of Adams. “It has nothing to do with that, as far as I’m concerned. I'm just happy that the mayor of New York City, the largest city in the world, is actually sitting down with law enforcement to make that city safer.” (New York is the largest U.S. city; Tokyo is considered the largest city in the world.)
Adams previously cut a deal with Homan to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to operate at the city’s massive Rikers Island jail complex. Homan said he and the mayor are nearing another cooperation agreement and are set to meet again this week, but he declined to comment on any specifics until they put pen to paper. Adams has repeatedly said the NYPD would only cooperate with ICE in cases that involved immigrants accused of crimes.
At the press conference, Homan also defended the recent detainment of Khalil, a Columbia graduate and activist who had been prominently involved in the pro-Palestinian protests at the university that erupted over the war in Gaza.
Federal immigration authorities arrested Khalil over the weekend, with the Trump administration moving to rescind Khalil's green card, which made him a permanent legal resident of the U.S.
When asked what crime Khalil committed that led to his arrest, Homan accused Khalil of inciting the Columbia protests — in which students took over parts of the campus — and “handing out leaflets for Hamas,” the terrorist organization in Gaza. Khalil’s attorneys say he has never been charged or convicted of a crime.
Khalil’s actions were “directly contradictory to the United States’ foreign policy” and the Trump administration considers him a “national security threat,” Homan said.
“Coming to this country either on a visa or becoming a resident alien here is a great privilege, but there are rules associated with that,” Homan said. “You might even be able to get away with that stuff in the last administration, but you won’t in this administration.”
Homan’s comments incensed the Democrats standing outside his press conference, some of whom accused the Trump administration of trying to “disappear” Khalil.
”They plucked somebody from their family's home,” said state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat. “They put him states away without even telling their next of kin where this person was going to be, without any clear charges, without any clear violation of anything. They just said he's saying something that we disagree with.”
Homan left the Capitol without incident and police made no arrests.
“Everybody can peacefully protest,” a state trooper told the protesters. “That’s perfectly fine.”
“And we are peaceful,” Assemblymember Claire Valdez of Queens said before gesturing to the elevator Homan left on. “They’re the ones that aren’t being peaceful.”
Tagged
new york state
Politics
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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