Border Czar Tom Homan clashed with MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski on Tuesday after she claimed people were being “disappeared” during immigration enforcement operations.
Brzezinski pressed Homan to provide transparency, noting that while he cited data showing 70% of those targeted had criminal records, reporting from The Associated Press in July suggested most did not. “I’d love some transparency as to why a lot of these people have been disappeared. You say you have data. We would love to see it,” she said.
Homan shot back, calling the suggestion “ridiculous” and defending ICE’s approach. “You just said disappeared. That is a ridiculous thing to say because ICE is doing the same thing we’ve done for decades. But, because of the last four years, ICE wasn’t allowed to enforce the law,” he said.
He argued that the agency’s work hasn’t changed since the 1980s. “We’re doing the same thing right now that we did when I started back in 1984. ICE agents are enforcing the laws enacted by Congress. If you don’t like what ICE is doing, then go protest Congress,” Homan added.
Homan emphasized that ICE operations are deliberate and planned. “To say we disappeared people, no. We’re arresting people that are in the country illegally and are a public safety threat. We know exactly who we’re going to arrest when we go look for them. We have a case file in front of us. This is not disappearing people. This is a planned, targeted enforcement operation,” he said.
He further warned that rhetoric like Brzezinski’s fuels hostility toward ICE officers and their families. “The comments like you just made is one of the reasons why these men and women are under threat every day, not just the men and women in ICE, but their spouses and their children,” Homan said.
His defense came just days after ICE detained nearly 500 workers during a raid at a Hyundai-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia. Officials said most of those arrested were South Korean nationals living and working illegally, either by overstaying visas, entering without authorization, or violating visa waivers.