Outgoing chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, wants President Trump to get tougher on Congress and pressure them into finally funding the 10,000 additional ICE employees he ordered be hired in an executive order a year and a half ago.

"I would like President Trump to work with Congress to get our needed resources. We need money to do our job," Homan told the Washington Examiner during his final days in office. "The president has tried. He talked about giving us 10,000 more officers. We haven’t seen that happen yet because Congress hasn’t funded it."

Homan, who retired Saturday from his post as acting director of the Department of Homeland Security agency, said the Republican leader should also push lawmakers to ban local jurisdictions from not cooperating with ICE agents' requests to detain illegal immigrants already in custody.

[Related: Lifelong Border Patrol agent Ronald Vitiello picked to lead ICE]

"I'd like to see the president work with Congress to get rid of sanctuary cities because sanctuary cities are a danger to the American people," he added. "I hope the president works with [DHS] Secretary Nielsen to finish what we started."

Homan hopes his successor continues to "enforce the law" to the same extent his officers have carried it out since Trump's January 2017 order.

Trump's action mandated ICE carry out all existing immigration laws whereas former President Barack Obama had instructed ICE to prioritize who it went after.

"It’s just a fact that our sitting president of one year has made a big difference," he said. "I've worked for six presidents. I started with Ronald Reagan ... No one has done more for border [safety], public safety, and law enforcement than President Trump."

The 34-year law enforcement veteran's departure comes just as some Democratic lawmakers and political candidates have escalated calls to abolish ICE.

"It's insulting that a member of Congress would say 'abolish ICE' when we're enforcing the laws that Congress enacted. They give us a set of laws that we're supposed to enforce and they give me the money to do it, then say 'abolish ICE,'" Homan explained. "We’re doing what you told us to do."

Although the agency is embroiled in a battle over the future of ICE, Homan said he's leaving with his "head held high."

"I’ll be handing my badge and gun in. It’s going to be tough. It’s a life-changing moment for me. I've known this place — I’ve known these people longer than I’ve known my wife and children," he added. "My dad was a cop, grandfather a cop. I’m lucky cause when I was a little boy, 8-9 years old, I wanted to be a cop. I lived my dream."