Speaking on Fox & Friends after a meeting Thursday afternoon, the two said they would collaborate on getting violent criminals without legal status out of the sanctuary city while also admitting they did not agree on everything.
"I came to New York City and I wasn't going to leave without nothing," Homan said. "Now I have him on the couch in front of millions of people and he can't back away from this now, right?"
Trump was elected last year after a campaign heavily focused on illegal immigration and the promise of deporting upwards of 11 million people without legal status in the U.S. The policy has been shown to be popular among voters across the political spectrum, before and after the election.
A New York Times/Ipsos survey (January 2-10) found that 55 percent of voters back Trump's mass deportation plan, while 88 percent support deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Most Democrats and Republicans agree that the immigration system is broken.
Sanctuary cities and states, like New York, have been a focus for the new administration, with lawsuits filed over the policies and pleas for all states to "comply" with the White House's plans for mass deportation and increased enforcement.
The morning TV appearance by Homan and Adams came after their second meeting in recent weeks to discuss immigration enforcement. The mayor then announced that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office would reopen at the city's notorious Rikers Island prison to help process illegal immigrants being held there.
Adams was vocal in what he saw as a lack of action by the Biden administration to help the city as it bore the brunt of the migrant crisis over the past few years, pleading for federal funding as New York City poured billions of dollars into temporary shelters, schooling, and basics like food and clothing for new arrivals.
The mayor, a former cop, told Fox & Friends that he felt he now had someone in the White House who was listening to his calls to get violent criminals out of the city, but he also maintained that immigrants without legal status who had not committed any other crimes should be allowed to go to school and work, pay taxes, and report crimes without fearing arrest.
Homan, meanwhile, said the city's sanctuary laws were still in the way of ICE agents as local law enforcement is not allowed to cooperate with them on civil enforcement matters like immigration violations, something Adams wants to see changed under the city's laws.
"I think sanctuaries are sanctuaries of criminals," Homan, a former acting head of ICE, said in response. "I am strictly against sanctuary city status."
Homan then admitted that an executive order could not override local sanctuary laws, but that he and Adams were looking at some workarounds to avoid the New York City Council getting in the way.
The meeting between the pair came after a tumultuous week for the city and its sanctuary status. Last Friday, a memo from City Hall to schools, hospitals and other city-run sites came to light, advising staff who felt threatened by ICE officers to let them into protected spaces.
Then, funding distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the city for housing and services for newly-arrived immigrants was "clawed back" by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), while U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a civil lawsuit against the state over its migrant protections.
Adams was also questioned about the Department of Justice's (DOJ) request to suspend the federal bribery charges against him, and whether this was because he had offered to help the White House in its immigration endeavors. The mayor denied this, saying he had wanted to help the federal government in this way since early 2022.
The mayor's corruption charges have been hanging over him in recent days, with the DOJ asking for the case to be suspended, prompting a Trump-appointed prosecutor to quit on Thursday. Other local leaders then called for Governor Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, to remove the mayor from office.
Border czar Tom Homan on Fox & Friends: "We're working on some other things that we don't really want to talk about in the open air, just because the City Council will be putting roadblocks up on us, but the mayor and me have committed to some other things that will make this city safer."
New York City Mayor Eric Mayor Adams on Fox & Friends: "I'm not standing in the way; I'm collaborating against so many others who don't want to collaborate... I've said it over and over again, we need to control our borders."
NYC City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, alongside colleagues, in a statement following the announcement about Rikers Island: "We are prepared to defend against violations of the law, but this announcement only deepens the concern that the mayor is prioritizing the interests of the Trump Administration over those of New Yorkers. Current city laws are specific to how and when city resources can be used for federal immigration enforcement to protect the safety of our city and its communities. The Council will determine its formal response based on the executive order."
Homan said he would be holding Adams to account, and that if he did not deliver on their agreement in the coming weeks and months, he would walk into the mayor's office and demand to know why.