In a fiery interview on ABC’s “This Week” with host Martha Raddatz, Trump Administration Border Czar Tom Homan refused to back down or pull any punches about immigration policy, saying that anyone who is in America illegally could be deported. Raddatz was obviously unhappy with his remarks.
Beginning, Homan told Raddatz, “We got military on the border, not only helping us with departure flights on military planes, or they’re helping to build infrastructure, they’re putting up concertina wire, where they’re down there to create a secure border and, knock that border down. The DOD has helped administrations before, but not at this level, so it’s a force multiplier, and it’s sending a strong signal to the world: our border is closed.”
Responding, Raddatz seemed to get upset at the thought that this sort of high-profile, large-scale immigration raid will be continuing indefinitely. She said, “So is this what we will see every single day, ending in what the President has promised is millions and millions being deported?”
Homan didn’t back down. He told her that not only would it continue, but it would escalate. He said, “Yes. But you’re going to see the numbers steadily increase, the number of arrests nationwide as we open up the aperture. Right now, it’s concentrating on public safety threats, national security threats. That’s a smaller population. So we’re going to do this on priority base, that’s President Trump’s promise. But as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.”
Raddatz, still stuck on the idea that those who are “just” here illegally will be deported, asked, “When you—when you talk about the aperture opening, the estimates of perhaps those who have been convicted or arrested in the past– 700,000 to over a million. So after you do that, then you go after everybody who is there illegally?”
Again, Homan didn’t back down. He told her, “If you’re in the country illegally, you’re on the table because it’s not okay to, you know, violate the laws of this country. You got to remember, every time you enter this country illegally, you violated a crime under Title Eight, the United States Code 1325, it’s a crime. So if you’re in a country illegally, you got a problem. And that’s why I’m hoping those who are in the country illegally, who have not been ordered removed by the federal judge, should leave.”
Raddatz remained seemingly quite upset by that. She said, “While you are emphasizing that you go after national security threats, you have said, ‘No one’s off the table.’ ‘If you’re in the country illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.’ ‘You should be afraid and start packing now.’ Is that what you’re doing to get hotel workers out or people in, working on farms, that they’ll be so scared they just leave?”
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Homan didn’t back down. Again noting that being her illegally is a crime and unfair to those going through the process legally, he said, “Look, I think if you’re in the country illegally, it’s not okay. It’s not OK to violate the laws of this country. We have millions of people standing in line, taking the test, doing their background investigation, paying the fees that want to come in the right way.”
Watch Homan here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video