Border czar Tom Homan told CBS News that illegal immigration status alone is enough grounds for deportation, pushing back on the idea that migrants without additional criminal charges should be treated differently under the law.
The exchange came after a CBS interviewer cited a statistic from Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL), who said 50 percent of ICE detainees have no additional criminal charge or conviction beyond their immigration status.
CBS: “She cited the statistic that 50 percent of ICE detainees don’t have a criminal charge or conviction.”
Homan: “Are they in the country illegally?”
CBS: “Yes.”
Homan: “They’re deportable, by federal law. She’s a member of Congress.”
Homan: “Yeah. If you’re in the country illegally, you’ve got a problem. You shouldn’t be here.”
Homan argued that much of the criticism directed at ICE under the current administration amounts to opposition to President Trump rather than opposition to the agency’s actual practices. He noted that ICE recorded high arrest and deportation numbers during the Obama administration, when he served as a senior official at the agency. Homan received a Presidential Rank Award from President Obama in 2015 for his work removing illegal immigrants from the United States.
Responding to growing criticism from some Republicans, Homan said: “I wish they’d sit down and talk to ICE. I wish they’d find out: What is ICE doing? How are they doing it? And educate themselves.”
Homan’s position is straightforward: federal law makes illegal presence in the country grounds for detention and deportation, regardless of whether a person has committed any other offense since crossing the border.
