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Homan warns Spanberger blocking access to Virginia jails could force more ICE street operations: 'Do the job'
By Preston Mizell
Published April 09, 2026
President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, blasted Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger over her policies surrounding federal immigration officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests that have been ignored by the state under her leadership.
Homan sat down with Fox News Digital for an exclusive interview, where he said if Spanberger is unwilling to cooperate with federal law enforcement, the border czar is willing to "send more teams into the streets."
"Elections have consequences," Homan explained. "[Spanberger] ran on a law enforcement position that she was a career law enforcement person. [She] is a much different person now since she’s in that governor’s slot."
White House border czar Tom Homan and Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. (Noam Galai/Getty Images; Win McNamee/Getty Images)
"Bottom line is, I wish she'd take a page out of the Minnesota chapter when the president sent me to Minneapolis to get more cooperation with the county jailers, which means less public safety threats in the communities," Homan added.
The border czar said, "ICE is not going to stop enforcing law" and that if blue states like Virginia continue to uphold strict sanctuary laws, the Trump administration will deploy more immigration enforcement agents into the streets.
"We'll just send more teams into the streets, into the neighborhoods," Homan told Fox News Digital. "Because we're going to do the job that President Trump promised, to make his country safer again, especially against illegal aliens that committed other crimes while they're here."
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White House border czar Tom Homan attends a press conference along the border wall between San Diego and Mexico's Tijuana, as they announce increased security on the southwest border from San Diego, California, Dec. 13, 2025. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
A Washington Post-Schar School poll released earlier this week showed a dramatic 46% of Virginians disapprove of Spanberger’s job performance — the lowest since 1994 compared to previous Republican and Democratic Virginia governors.
During a press gaggle on Wednesday, Spanberger said it is an "absolute lie" that state and local police are unwilling to work with federal agencies, including ICE, and addressed her poll numbers.
"Virginia State Police is a top-notch law enforcement agency, and I don’t think it's responsible for us, for me as governor, for the commonwealth of Virginia, to put Virginia State Police under the supervision or direction of ICE," Spanberger told reporters. "That is a change I made, I think it is the right one, I know it is the right one, and I stand by it."
The Virginia governor also addressed the recent poll when speaking with the press.
"I would say if everyone hated me, then why is everyone putting my face on their mailers, for the referendum, would be question number one," Spanberger said. "The only poll that matters, is my election, 17 point win, and now I'm doing the work for Virginians, so what matters to me in the end, is what I'm delivering for the people."
In early February, Spanberger issued an executive directive cutting off collaboration between state agencies and federal immigration officials.
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Abigail Spanberger is seen conducting a bus tour through Virginia to connect with constituents as she campaigns to become the governor in the 2025 gubernatorial election in Fairfax on June 26, 2025. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
She also rescinded the 287(g) program put in place by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Youngkin’s program authorized local law enforcement to carry out certain immigration enforcement duties while operating under ICE supervision. This includes stopping the release of undocumented individuals with criminal records and helping federal immigration agencies identify those already held in local jails.
Homan said the concept of releasing illegal migrants accused of committing crimes from jail without notifying ICE is "ridiculous."
"These people are in the country illegally, they commit a serious crime, public safety crime, and the local jurisdiction chooses to release them into the community rather than turning them over to ICE," Homan told Fox News Digital.
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"The Department of Justice has got lawsuits pending against sanctuary jurisdictions," Homan added. "I think they'll win them in the long run, because I think sanctuary cities are illegal."
White House border czar Tom Homan speaks to the press outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
"We're out there trying to educate these sanctuary cities that if you let us in the jail… that means less of our agents are in the street," he said.
Homan also said the administration has their "foot on the gas" when it comes to enforcing the president’s campaign promise to secure the border and deport migrants living in the U.S. illegally, while echoing a popular message from the administration that criminal migrants will be the first to go.
"As a guy who's done this over 40 years, you have a criminal here and a non-criminal here, you're always gonna get the criminal first because they pose the biggest threat to our neighborhood," Homan explained. "Prioritization will remain public safety threats and national security threats."
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"But as I said from day one, if you're in the country legally, you're not off the table," Homan added. "And if we find you, we're gonna arrest you and deport you."
President Donald Trump shook hands with newly sworn-in Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin during a ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House on March 24, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Homan has served as the border czar since the beginning of the Trump administration. Kristi Noem formerly served as DHS secretary prior to her reassignment in March. Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican representing Oklahoma, was appointed to the role following Noem’s departure.
Mullin affirmed that he believes sanctuary cities are not lawful during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this month, and Mullin has been leading DHS during a spending fight and partial government shutdown over funding for his department.
Homan told Fox News Digital he thinks Mullin is the right man for the job and said he talks to Mullin daily, "if not several times a day."
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Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., arrived to testify during a confirmation hearing to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 18, 2026, in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump nominated Mullin to replace Kristi Noem as DHS secretary. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"I think he's the right guy, the right time, and the right job," Homan said. "I think you're going to see great things from Markwayne Mullin."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/homan-warns-spanberger-blocking-access-virginia-jails-could-force-ice-street-operations-job