Border Czar Tom Homan has issued a strong message to illegal immigrants involved in crime, giving hope to overwhelmed New Yorkers: ICE is stepping up its presence and will intensify its efforts.

That’s good news: New York City’s crazy “sanctuary” laws let illegal immigrant criminals hide in plain sight.

“Focusing on sanctuary cities is now our mission,” Homan declared, following a near-fatal incident involving an off-duty border officer and two individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants. “Sanctuary cities put public safety at risk.”

Indeed, lefty activists who fight ICE agents and back local sanctuary laws share much of the blame for the violence their darling migrants commit. 

In fact, it’s precisely those laws that force to Homan to send more agents than he otherwise would.

This situation arises because these laws prevent ICE access to prisons and jails, where undocumented immigrants could be transferred to ICE custody, compelling agents to track them down in public spaces instead.

That’s a lot more dangerous — and requires more agents to find and haul them in safely.

“If we can’t arrest a bad guy in the safety and security of a jail,” notes Homan, “we’ll arrest them in the community.”

The irony’s unmistakable: “Sanctuary cities get exactly what they don’t want — more agents in their community,” he says.

ICE used to have an office on Rikers, and when a dangerous illegal migrant came through the jail system, ICE would ask the NYPD or Corrections to detain him for deportation. 

That ended over a decade ago: ICE was booted off Rikers by lefty loons in the City Council and then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

Per Homeland Security, Team Trump sent 6,000 ICE detainers to NYC — and the city ignored nearly all of them.

If the City Council wants to limit ICE’s presence in New York, it should let the NYPD and Corrections communicate directly with ICE and the agency’s officers return Rikers.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for that.