Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News host Harris Faulkner Thursday that people who leak information about raids by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “might find themselves in handcuffs.”
Upon taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued multiple executive orders to address illegal immigration, including designating Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, declaring a national emergency on the southern border and setting policy to secure the border. Faulkner asked Homan about efforts to impede ICE raids targeting illegal immigrants with criminal records.
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“I’m working very close starting this morning with the Department of Justice in where do they cross the line of impediment? So they may find themselves in a pair handcuffs soon. So, working with DOJ on that, get some legal guidance on that, I’m not an attorney I know what … crossing that line is, but getting DOJ back up on that, so something we’re looking at, Harris,” Homan told Faulkner. “We’re not going to tolerate it anymore. This is not a game. When we show up at these sites, this is a dangerous job for the men of women of ICE and Border Patrol and all the DOJ agencies.”
“To have this type of interference puts our officers at great risk,” Homan continued. “Not only these officers, but it puts the aliens at great risk, ’cause anything can happen when we take our eyes off the goal here, so we’re addressing that immediately today. I’m addressing OPSEC today, operational security and how the leaks are happening. We’ve identified how this operation got leaked and I’ll deal with that today.”
Prior to Homan’s appearance, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin covered an ICE operation in Aurora, Colorado, targeting the Tren de Aragua gang members that took over an apartment complex in the city. The raids, which targeted over 100 gang members, only netted one member after information regarding law enforcement’s operation was leaked. Protesters with bullhorns taunted the agents after media outlets ran articles about the impending operation, which Melugin said was “compromised from the very beginning.”
“It’s all about controlling the message. I try to be transparent. I promised the American people that we would be transparent with operations, but it’s obvious we can’t be having all these different news outlets out there with us on various raids. Bill Melugin, great guy, but we got a lot of OPSEC concerns we’re dealing with right now,” Homan told Faulkner. “But the leak will be identified today, we’ll deal with that today. But it’s not a game. I want to put it out to [Democratic New Jersey] Governor Phil Murphy, the rest of the people who want to game this, it is not a joke. This is serious business and they need to stop or we’ll prosecute them through the Department of Justice.”
Murphy dared ICE to pursue an illegal immigrant he said was living in an apartment over the garage of his home Monday, prompting Homan to warn him he could be arrested and charged.
Trump promised to carry out a massive deportation effort targeting criminal illegal immigrants during the 2024 presidential campaign. ICE arrested and deported hundreds of illegal aliens charged with crimes including terrorism, sexual assault and aggravated assault, after Trump signed the executive actions and rescinded executive orders issued by then-President Joe Biden in 2021 that reversed immigration enforcement policies Trump put in place during his first term.
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