Wrong link came up-disregard
Bob Kasprak==================================
-----Original Message-----
From: hils. <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sat, May 22, 2021 1:37 pm
Subject: [uupretirees] Interview of Tom Homan, former acting director of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
SUMMARY
FAIR's Preston Huennekens, Matthew Tragesser, and Immigration Reform Law
Institute senior fellow Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE), discuss immigration policy in the Joe Biden era.
SHOW NOTES
Intro:Today on Understanding Immigration, an interview with former ICE director
Tom Homan. Matthew: All right welcome back to another episode of FAIR’s
Understanding Immigration podcast this is Matthew Tragesser FAIR’s press
secretary and I’m joined as always by Preston Huennekens from our lobbying
department Spencer Raley FAIR’s director of research will not be joining us
this week but we have a very special episode today. Today we have the honor to
interview someone who is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement otherwise known as ICE who is now a Fox News contributor and also a
senior fellow at the Immigration Reform Law Institute. You most likely have
heard of him before Tom Homan is with us, welcome to today's show, tom. (thanks
guys) Tom has an extensive background in law enforcement and leadership and is
just about well-versed on the immigration issue as anyone in this entire
country. Now Preston and I are going to be asking tom a few questions regarding
his recent trips to the border, President Biden’s new pick to head ICE, and
also what the current president has done to impact immigration enforcement. All
right so Tom let's start off with your recent trips to the border under the
Biden administration I know you and I went down together to McAllen, Texas in
late March and it was a mess to say at least you know there were hundreds of
unaccompanied minors and family units who were crossing the Rio Grande river
way after midnight and it really just seemed like a border crisis on all levels
I know since then you've gone back down to the border a couple of times and
just from your initial observations have conditions improved since we've been
down there have they stayed the same or what exactly are you seeing right now?
Tom: Well the conditions haven't improved at all that's why it's kind of
disheartening to see the president saying they got some better control of this
now he said that on national media today and the secretary said it too when
they're talking about when they say they got better control which means they're
getting better at releasing people right so that's not control that is just
further uncontrol when you got to release people because you don't have the
space to hold them that tells you got a crisis right so when you got a plan to
release people faster so there's no overcrowding that's not control gentlemen
that is out of control so bottom line is more people coming across instead of
concentrating on securing the border, detaining making people… and as far as
the whole message of these are asylum seekers, how do they know that? Because
they're not even doing initial asylum interviews, they're processing people and
trying real fast to get them released as soon as possible to go to a you know
an NGO facility stay in the hotel room for a couple days to get released with a
brand new iPhone a brand new cell phone at taxpayer expense so it's the whole
messaging on this is flawed it's not by accidents flawed. I think they're
misleading the American people what's going on in the border. Preston: And so
Tom you've just described some of certainly the pull factors from the
perspective of the United States where the blind administration has completely
blown up some of these agreements such as the migrant protection protocols such
as the asylum agreements with the northern triangle countries that were
preventing a lot of this mess but you know for and you mentioned too the Biden
administration talking points they are really hitting on the push factors from
Central America you know and I wanted to get your sense of which of those two
really is it? Is it really that conditions in Central America are so bad that
all of these people are legitimate asylum seekers or is it because of the
policies of the Biden administration that many of these people now believe they
have a better chance of getting into the U.S. by claiming asylum? Tom: Look
I’ve been I’ve been to El Salvador I’ve been to Guatemala I’ve been Honduras
bottom line (and Mexico many times) the United States is a better country we're
the best we're the best country on the face of the earth so that that's never
going to change the issue is it isn't about conditions in the Central American
countries all you got to do is look at the court data if you go to DOJ website
an immigration court, EOIR website it clearly says that 84 to 89 percent of
Central Americans who claim fear at the border never get relief from the U.S.
courts they don't win their case because either they don't show up in court or
they don't qualify so you know I like to stick to the legal terminology so if
nine out of ten don't qualify and you look at the Homeland Security and life
cycle report out of the hundreds of thousands of these people who lost their
case that ninety percent, less than three percent leave so President Trump got
it right he saw the data he knows that… why would you continue to release
people United States when they clearly commit some sort of immigration fraud
claiming asylum when they don't qualify at all but they do it because they know
they're going to be released and they never have to show up and never have to
leave. Trump got it right so he said you know what I’m going to have the Remain
in Mexico program so these people aren't being released you know never to show
up in court, never to leave. President Biden has access to the same data and he
chose okay ninety percent don't qualify, three percent never leave, all right
let's let them go it's ridiculous so I said this isn't mismanagement, this is
by design, they want these people here and they know they're never going to
leave. So, the Trump administration gave us the most secure border I’ve seen in
my career, illegal immigration was down between 60 and 80 percent depending
what month you look at, children, UAC coming across the border was down over 70
percent and within two weeks Biden tore down everything Trump and he went from
33,000 apprehensions in March of last year to 172,000 apprehensions this year.
So this is about pull factors, this is about promises president Biden made
during a campaign, the promises he kept by signing executive orders and so this
is his words, his actions have caused this crisis and they can go down to
Central America all they want to tell people now is not time to come, don't
come now, actions speak louder than words, these people aren’t stupid when a
family unit gets released from a hotel room with a brand new iPhone they get to
their final destination you don't think they're calling their relatives and
friends and telling hey I was in a hotel room for two days, they fed me really
good food for a couple days, they gave me this brand new iPhone, now I’m in
Chicago, my husband has been here illegally forever. No, actions speak louder
than words they can say anything they want, their actions their words… it
started with their words during the campaign but their actions since he's been
in the White House is driving this crisis. Matthew:Tom I got to ask you
regarding the Donna facility, there was an article by Fox News yesterday saying
that the facility has gone from holding 5,000 migrants to about just a couple
hundred and the White House right now is saying that these migrants have been
transferred to HHS facilities and that's where they all are now, do you truly
believe that all these migrants are at HHS or is the reason why the Donna
facility is so empty is because of the Biden administration's catch and release
policy and so people aren't even being placed in detention anymore they're just
being released and never really seen again? Tom:It's a little bit of both, when
they say they're in HHS custody that's kind of a play on words they're in that
they're in the custody of you know these NGOs who got multi-million dollar
contracts like Endeavors to stay in hotel rooms, Donna is more or less a
processing site to get into an NGO or one of these contracts, but we know a lot
are being released or being released quicker and what's really concerning is
that during the Trump administration we had the one surge, we did DNA testing
with the family units to make sure they're actually families we found as high
as 30% of families weren't really families, it was children being trafficking
the other thing is these children is when they get released to their sponsors
the vetting that was done during the Trump administration was very extensive
but people complain it's taking too long to release the kids well because we're
making sure these kids aren't being released to someone that's number one it
isn't a child predator, isn't someone that's going to you know abuse this child
make sure they're being released to a safe environment they've cut that vetting
down a lot because they’re in such a hurry to release people it concerns me who
these children are being released to so I think a little bit of both I think
they're getting better at releasing kids quickly which again they call success
I call a problem and I think they're moving quickly out of Donna to these NGO
facilities you know this administration would be why you have someone at Donna,
they'd be in a hotel room at $374 a night at taxpayer expense. Matthew: Right
and for our listeners out there the Donna facility is located in the southern
tip of Texas and it's in the Rio Grande valley so the Rio Grande valley is
really a hot spot right now for illegal migration especially with the family
and unaccompanied minors when we were down there we kind of drove by it…
TomDon't forget now it's the same facility that Democrats in the Trump
administration Democrats’ catch was it was a caging facility where kids were
caged you don't hear that now they're using the same exact facility but you
don't hear that word cage anymore that's kind of weird and not I mean again
that shows the politicization you don't have AOC down there finding an empty
parking lot next to a chain link fence claiming she's outside the facility she
was never outside of either. It's a whole new different dynamic now Matthew:
Right so I want to ask you kind of changing gears a bit you know as someone who
was the acting director of immigration and customs enforcement under the Trump
administration what are your initial thoughts of this new appointed head to
lead the agency for listeners out there the new head of ICE is named Ed
Gonzalez who previously served as the sheriff of Harris County in Texas you
know Tom can he get the job done right now? Tom:
I think he's a perfect choice for this administration so they want somebody
that's not going to enforce immigration law they want somebody who doesn't…
look when he was the sheriff one of the first things he did when he became
sheriff is stop all cooperation with ICE and now he's their director?? I mean
could you find a better pick for this administration? you know so I think he's
exactly what they're looking for because they want ICE to be crippled, they're
already crippled the numbers came out yesterday they had the lowest number of
arrests and removals in the last month of the history of the agency so you know
yeah they got the right guy to continue tearing down immigration enforcement in
this country and you know and you look at the numbers 90% of the criminals they
arrested last year and removed last year they can't arrest this year. I’m at an
event here I was here I gave a speech here today at an event in Brownsville by
the Nightlight Group, is a bunch of ladies who got together and they're
fighting child trafficking on the border, I came down to give a speech to them
so and I also gave a speech to the Remembrance Project right afterwards this
Remembrance Project right afterwards, this Remembrance Project are those who
represent Angel moms and dads. Criminals are walking out of jails across this
country every day, criminals! Public safety threats. So and when the borders…
so number one you got criminals going back into the community, in the very
communities which was an immigrant community, which puts our immigrant
communities at a greater risk of crime, you got the borders out of control we
all know on average 20 percent of everybody apprehended by Border Patrol has a
criminal history, but there's 1500 a day not being arrested, so there's going
to be more victims of alien crime, there's going to be more angel dads and
angel moms because of these open borders policies. So, this new guy running
ICE, I mean for a guy whose first action as a sheriff was to stop cooperation
with ICE, he'd be my last choice, but for this administration who wants to tear
down the agency he's a perfect choice. Preston: And Tom I’ve got to ask you on
that point there's been some talk among House Democrats about using the power
of the purse to defund the 287(g) program within ICE and hearing you talk about
in this case Gonzalez being a perfect pick as you know the ICE director, is
this something that he would be able to do without Congress just as the
director of ICE? Is there a way that if and when he's confirmed by the Senate
he could come in and just say look we're going to stop these programs, we don't
even need Congress to do it for us? Tom: I don't think you do look I’m not an
attorney but when I when we had 287(g) program, I signed a lot of 287(g)
agreements, I did. So it's up to the judgment the ICE director who he wants to
enter an agreement with so I think yeah I think he he'll be in a programming
position to kill them and which again you got you got the President of the
United States saying public safety threats, the priorities remain for ICE to
arrest public safety threats, you got the Democrats already saying ICE should
concentrate on criminals and not everybody else and so they say they’re
concentrating on criminals then they lock you out of jail. Another thing about
the Biden administration they’ve done, don't forget a few weeks ago he dropped
the sanctuary cities lawsuit that President Trump started so don't tell me you
want ICE to arrest public safety threats and criminals when you lock us out of
jail, you support the sanctuary city movement, and you want to end the 287(g)
program! They're, again actions speak louder than words, I hope the American
people… they need to watch the actions of this administration more than the
words because they're lying to the American people. Preston: And I want to
follow up on this as well I’m not sure if you've had a chance to follow up with
this at all but what does the nomination of someone like a Gonzalez what does
that do for morale within an agency like ICE I mean is this seemingly is would
be a slap in the face for many of the career officials there who are you know
they're there for the mission, they believe in what they're doing and then the
president turns around and nominates someone who has actively worked against
what ICE has tried to do in local communities with the 287(g) program. I just
wanted to see if you had any thoughts on that at all? Tom: Well I think it's
the final stab in the back of ICE agents, their morale is already at an
all-time low they're not allowed to do their job, they're not allowed to uphold
the oath they took to enforce the laws of this country. They’ve got to watch
criminals walk out of the jails every day and not be allowed to touch them,
they gotta watch child predators walk out of courthouses every day not allowed
to touch them now with a new courthouse rule I said when they when they
nominate somebody who everybody knows that the first thing he did was stop
cooperation with ICE when he was a sheriff, I mean it's just the final dig at
the ICE agents. I mean I feel bad for these guys and morale's at an all-time
low and they just you know they're killed they killed their morale. And it's
much more liberating when President Trump nominated me as ICE director, morale
was at an all-time high per the federal employee viewpoint survey the feds
report I said the highest morale they ever had, why? Because one of their own
who did the job was nominated and you know and I’ve said it I said in my speech
today my biggest honor I had 20,000 men and women under my command, I never
asked them to do a single thing that I didn't do as an agent ‘cause I came up
through the ranks. And it's meaningful when you come up through the ranks
because you know the system, you know what works, you know what doesn't, you
know how the job is carried out you know the difficulties you know the
strengths and now you got a share of coming in look. I respect the man that he
served in law enforcement, I respect that because I love cops and they put
themselves in harm's way, but when you're going to run a federal law
enforcement agency that enforces immigration law and you absolutely don't
believe in the enforcement of that law, you shouldn't be their director. It's
that simple. Matthew: So Tom what do you think the end goal of all this is
because obviously there's been a lot of inaction at the southern border, you
know Kamala Harris hasn't visited the border yet, President Biden hasn't
visited the border yet, apprehensions keep soaring, I mean obviously there has
to be some kind of end goal…
Tom:
It’s borders open borders, this is their plan, this is by design. And the
reason I say this is a plan because number one not only do you undo everything
Trump did that was a success and they know it they caused this border surge
they wanted this border surge this is about bringing more people into the
United States and what else they do when they open the borders is several other
things number one they they're out the sanctuary city lawsuit they support
sanctuary cities number two they crippled ICE so ICE can't arrest people in the
interior now think about this now then they overturn the Census rules so these
people can be counted in the Census. This is all these things they've done is
part of a major plan and they they're not very good at hiding it to create an
open borders agenda, welcome more people into this country who they believe is
going to be future Democratic voters. This is what open borders looks like and
there is you got to give them credit they're executing their plan pretty
brilliantly this is about open borders look elections has consequences,
President Trump tried to warn them what would happen, and look I wrote an op-ed
back in July last year saying this would happen if Joe Biden became president
just based of the promises, he made so again this… their plan is coming
together this is open border you know. To the people who listen to your show,
this is what open borders looks like, this is what some American people voted
for so hopefully now they see what a travesty this is for our sovereignty and
our safety of American people maybe they'll think differently in the next
election I don't know what to tell you. Matthew:
Now I also got to ask you kind of shifting more to Mexico and the northern
triangle countries I’ve seen recently that the president of Mexico the
president of El Salvador and the president of Guatemala have all said that
Biden's mixed messaging have created this border crisis and they're kind of
becoming frustrated with the administration and how they're handling the
southern border do you think that the relationship between the northern
triangle countries and Mexico and our country is fractured under the Biden
administration's leadership?
Tom:
No I don't you know I think that's I think that's a political game I think
it's smoke and mirrors bottom line is all these countries benefit from the
United States having unlawful illegal immigration last year alone Mexico
received 40 billion dollars that's with a b 40 billion dollars of remits
payments from those in the country here illegally they're sending money back
home that's 40 billion dollars of free money for Mexico to go to families that
they don't have to take care of they don't have to provide social services for
billions of dollars a year since these countries in remittance payments the
more illegal immigration this country, the better off these countries are,
they're getting rid of people that you know aren't working in their country
they're coming here and sending free money back to the country I truly believe
that and I know but I think you know the president of Mexico said that
President Biden's promises caused this crisis they're telling the truth but do
they really want to fix a problem that serves them billions of dollars a year
and free money from U.S. I don't see it. Matthew:All right it looks like all
the time that we have today we'd like to thank Tom Homan for joining us today
it's been a true pleasure and an honor to speak to someone who has served under
this country for many years and who served as the acting director of ICE under
the Trump administration. Tom: All right thanks guys I appreciate you having
me. Matthew:All right so that was definitely a very interesting interview there
Preston you know I want to get your initial thoughts you know what struck out
most to you from Tom? Preston: I think one of the most striking things that he
said was when he said that the nomination of Ed Gonzalez to be the ICE director
was perfect for this administration and at first I was kind of thinking to
myself is he really about to support this guy but then he went into explaining
how, for a president like Joe Biden who is committed to eviscerating
immigration enforcement in this country, someone like Sheriff Gonzalez is a
perfect fit and I think that Tom really did a great job of explaining how bad
this guy would be as the director of ICE and I’m glad that I was able to ask
him a question about morale in the agency because it really seems like they
just get every single time they get the short stick and so you know it was it
was interesting to hear him say that about that he shares our concerns with
Gonzalez being tapped to lead ICE. Matthew: No I would definitely agree and you
know for our listeners out there this guy is as bad of a pick as it sounds you
know he has no federal leadership experience, he has no federal government
experience whatsoever and he has demonstrated on Twitter in 2018 and 2019
literally vehemently opposing ICE’s enforcement missions he called out its
enforcement operations in 2019 he also called for in 2018 on Twitter that
certain classes of legal aliens should not be held in detention and now this
guy is running ICE I mean it's really concerning to say the least and I’m glad
that Tom you know showed his opinions about Sheriff Gonzales but you know just
for listeners out there this is not the right guy to lead this agency
especially as our southern border continues to see apprehensions we've never
seen before on record. Preston: Yeah I think one other thing that I just was
reminded of thinking about the interview we did was him talking about you know
the authority the ICE director has in approving 287(g) agreements and while tom
said he didn't think that the ICE director could unilaterally just stop all of
them he did say that you know there's a good chance that there will not be a
single new 287(g) agreement signed under the tenure of President Joe Biden and
under the tenure of you know presumptive ICE director Gonzales which is really
startling it's very disappointing because these are agreements that are forced
multipliers for ICE they keep dangerous criminals off of the streets and it
allows the United States to remove criminal illegal aliens from the U.S. and
it's just really disappointing that we have a president and we have people
leading ICE that don't want to utilize this tool at all. Matthew:No I totally
agree I think 287(g) is definitely a game changer and it really helps you know
secure our borders but it doesn't have to be used in border stage board of
communities it can be used anywhere in the interior of the country and it helps
you know kind of facilitate cooperation between ICE and the local law
enforcement in these communities it's just head scratching to see why someone
would want this to be removed why it's not being fully implemented more but
changing gears a bit you know I think another startling not startling thing but
just very interesting thing that Tom said during this interview was that the
Biden administration and these Biden officials know full well that what's
happening at the southern border is intentional they want as many people to
come to the country as possible even illegally and there really are a lot of
political implications with this so it's kind of like a longer term strategy
and I think I have to agree with that you know I think this is definitely
coordinated you know exactly what's going on it's you know it's sad that
they're doing it in this way but no this is definitely kind of political
warfare at this point. All right well that's all the time that we have today
unfortunately we hope that you've enjoyed today's episode and perhaps learned
something new about the Biden border crisis from someone who has seen it from
their own eyes multiple times in the past few months and who has worked
directly with the immigration issue for decades we'd like to thank Tom for
making time to join us today and as a reminder we'll be releasing a new episode
every other Monday our episodes are available on most platforms including
Spotify, Apple podcasts and Google podcasts. You can also visit our website at
fairus.org to access these episodes and also on our Twitter we post them
frequently and our twitter handle is @FAIRImmigration so please visit our
Twitter feed to access these episodes and we hope each and every one of you are
continuing to stay safe and sound and until next time this has been
Understanding Immigration presented by FAIR.
WHAT IS UNDERSTANDING IMMIGRATION?
FAIR's bi-weekly podcast bringing you the most important news about immigration
hosted by Communications Specialist Matthew Tragesser, Government Relations
Associate Preston Huennekens, and Director of Research Spencer Raley. All
audio, artwork, episode descriptions and notes are property of Federation for
American Immigration Reform, for Understanding Immigration, and published with
permission by Transistor, Inc.
