Trump Border Czar Rages About Migrants Being Too ‘Educated’ About Rights in ICE Round-Ups
“They call it ‘Know Your Rights.’ I call it ‘How to escape arrest,’” whined Tom Homan.
Screenshot/CNN
Donald Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, complained that immigrants in sanctuary cities are “very difficult” to arrest because they are “educated” about their rights when it comes to ICE raids.
Homan, who previously led ICE as its acting director, has made the rounds on media while the president’s effort to round up undocumented immigrants and deport them en masse got underway in major cities such as Chicago and New York since the weekend.
In a Monday appearance on CNN, he complained that “sanctuary cities are making it very difficult to arrest the criminals.”
“For instance, Chicago—very well-educated,“ Homan continued. ”They‘ve been educated on how to how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE. I‘ve seen many pamphlets from many NGOs: ’Here‘s how you escape ICE from arresting you. Here‘s what you need to do.’"
“They call it ‘Know Your Rights.’ I call it ‘how to escape arrest,’” Homan added.
He seemed to be referring to a campaign, called Know Your Rights, launched by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. It encourages citizens whose homes are visited by immigration agents not to open the door unless presented with a warrant signed by a judge.
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Homan said, though, that the agents conducting the operation won’t easily be deterred.
“If we gotta play that cat and mouse game, that’s what we’re going to do ‘til every one of them’s gone,” he said.
ICE has arrested at least 4,829 people since Trump’s inauguration, according to NBC News.
As far as alternatives to the deportation raids, right-wing pundit Megyn Kelly suggested to Homan, when he appeared on her YouTube show on Tuesday, that it could be more efficient to pay immigrants to “self-deport” and return to their home countries.
“Here’s a big check waiting for you,” Kelly said. “Get out! Get down there and we’ll work with the government to make sure these people get paid. I know it sounds outrageous.”
“Is that crazy talk?” Kelly asked Homan, who responded that it was, in fact, one option under consideration.
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