Story highlights Homan said he recently asked HSI to audit how much of their time is spent on work site enforcement

He asked his agency to increase that effort "four or five times"

Washington (CNN) The administration's top immigration enforcement official on Tuesday said his agency will vastly step up crackdowns on employers who hire undocumented immigrants -- a new front in President Donald Trump's hardline immigration agenda.

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan spoke at the conservative Heritage Foundation and was asked whether his agency would do more to target not just undocumented workers, but their places of work.

Homan said he has instructed Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative unit of ICE, to potentially quintuple worksite enforcement actions next year.

He said he recently asked HSI to audit how much of their time is spent on work site enforcement, and said he has ordered that to increase "by four to five times."

"We've already increased the number of inspections in work site operations, you will see that significantly increase this next fiscal year," Homan promised, saying the goal is to remove the "magnet" drawing people to enter the US illegally.

Read More