Trump border czar Tom Homan reveals ICE teams already arresting ‘public safety threats’
Border czar Tom Homan said Tuesday that mass deportations have begun as the Trump administration looks to make good on its promise to address the border crisis and crack down on illegal immigration.
“No, it’s starting [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] “As of today, our teams have been there,” Homan told “America’s Newsroom.” “We gave them instructions to prioritize the public safety threats that we’re looking for. We’ve been developing a target list.
The government has promised to launch a “historic” mass deportation campaign, with sources telling Fox News Digital that arrests are planned on “day one.” Some media outlets reported on an operation in Chicago on Friday, but Homan said the operation had been re-evaluated because of the leak.
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“There’s been some discussion about Chicago now that the specific action plan has been released. So we have to look at and reevaluate, ‘Does this cause officer safety concerns?’ It does, but we’ve addressed that, and The team is already there and it works today,” he said.
As for who is being targeted in this operation, Homan said the first priority is public safety threats, but he has repeatedly said that no one is “impossible to be arrested” if they are in the United States illegally.
“There is a threat to public safety, those who are in the country illegally are being convicted, arrested for serious crimes,” he said. “But let me be clear. There is a threat to public safety, not just arrests, because in sanctuary cities, we don’t Allowing a public safety threat to be encountered in prison means that we have to go out and find him nearby”.
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Thomas Homan speaks at the National Conservative Convention in Washington, DC, Monday, July 8, 2024. (Dominic Gwynne/Middle East Photos/AFP via Getty Images)
“When we find him, he may be with other people. Unlike the previous administration, we are not telling ICE officers not to arrest illegal aliens. So if they find him, others will be arrested as well. So sanctuary cities will “Getting that is exactly what they don’t want, more agents and more collateral arrests in their communities,” he said.
Hours before Homan spoke, Fox News reported on two DHS memos, one of which rescinded a 2021 memo from then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas , the memo provides an expanded list of “protected areas” where ICE cannot participate in immigration enforcement. It said the aim of the policy is to ensure enforcement does not restrict “people’s access to essential services or participation in essential activities”.
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These areas include schools, universities, health care facilities, places of worship, “places where children gather,” social service agencies, food banks, religious or civil ceremonies, and disaster or emergency response and relief centers.
A memo issued Monday rescinded that guidance and said common sense should be used.
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“Going forward, law enforcement officers should continue to use this discretion, along with sound common sense,” the new memo says. “However, it is not necessary for the head of the agency to establish clear rules on where enforcement of our immigration laws is permitted.”
