President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan got into a heated conversation with “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, going on to state that rhetoric being used by members of Congress is emboldening folks to physically confront federal immigration agents. President Trump recently brought an end to a pause in the use of vehicle stops ordered by Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin after two incidents that resulted in illegal aliens being shot and killed.
The deceased individuals attempted to run over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with their vehicles. When Brennan attempted to bring up the incidents, Homan refused to comment on them, noting that he didn’t want to get into a discussion concerning who was at fault and what exactly happened since the investigations were still ongoing.
“I don’t want to get ahead of investigations on who’s at fault, what exactly happened,” Homan said during the interview with Brennan. “Because we all know, when the investigations happen, there’s going to be cell phone video, there may be city cameras, and, of course, then you got witness statements and affidavits from the officer and witnesses. So we got to let the investigations play out.”
“So, I don’t want to really comment on investigation[s] themselves, but … I think … Markwayne Mullin, you know, took some action, and, in concern of the safety of the agents and how we do operations. And that’s why he did that, you know, that pause on enforcement on vehicle stops,” he continued, going on to add that his true concern is the hateful anti-ICE rhetoric coming from folks in Congress.
“But you know, my concern is … I’ve done this since 1984. My concern is I think a lot of the rhetoric that you see every day — especially in sanctuary cities and at these protests that resist, members of Congress saying ICE isn’t a real law enforcement agency — … I actually think that emboldens some people to say, ‘I’m not going to comply with ICE,” the border czar said.
Homan then pointed out to Brennan that various branches of law enforcement do vehicle stops all the time and deal with mistaken identity often, which then led to the reporter asking about the use of unmarked vehicles, claiming it doesn’t allow people to recognize they are being stopped by law enforcement officials.
“No, they have emergency lights. Officers have insignia, so when they get out of that car and approach the car, you can clearly see the law enforcement officers,” Homan responded. Brennan replied, “Well, in the video that has been [made] public, it’s not a marked car.” The border czar was not about to back down from Brennan’s questioning.
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“I’m not saying it’s a marked car, but they have emergency lights and sirens. So when they pull someone over, they want to activate the emergency lights,” Homan said. “A lot of police departments — I’m in New York City right now — a lot of NYPD [New York Police Department] officers are driving unmarked vehicles, and that helps them find people that don’t want to be found.” Homan also blamed Democrats for a delay on body cameras, which he says will “exonerate” officers involved in similar incidents.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video