Border czar Tom Homan on Thursday accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of lying about properly vetting illegal immigrants following the arrest of an MS-13 kingpin.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested one of El Salvador’s “top 100 most wanted” criminals, Melvin Alejandro Varela Perez, in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday. Homan said on “America Reports” that Perez’s parole in the U.S. after illegally crossing the border in 2023 proves that the administration did not properly vet the illegal immigrants that were released into the U.S. over the past four years.
“This is just one example about what I’ve been saying for the last four years,” Homan said. “The Biden administration lied to the American people. When they said that everybody who comes into the country is properly vetted, they weren’t. First of all, we don’t have access to other countries criminal data, but like you said, this was public information. And this has been just easily found. But this administration, their main focus under the Biden administration, Border Patrol had one directive. Process quick, release quick. Because if there’s no crowding, we can keep claiming that the border’s secure and we’ve got control of everything. And they kept lying to the American people.”
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Homan said the Biden administration’s alleged lack of vetting illegal immigrants allowed murderers, rapists and other heinous criminals to enter and remain in the U.S. illegally. He said that the previous administration’s “incompetence” allowed for a record-number of dangerous illegal immigrants to roam through American neighborhoods.
“The incompetence from the last administration, their directive to how Border Patrol release[d] without proper vetting, and also lets remember, ICE was told by [former DHS Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas, ‘you can’t arrest someone here illegally unless they had a serious criminal conviction. Not a warrant, not a watt, but a conviction,” Homan continued. “So look, the last administration, they totally screwed it up. From releasing people from the border without vetting, from tying ICE’s hands, we got a record number, 10.5 million illegal aliens come to our border under Joe Biden. ICE had the lowest number of removals in the history of the agency because their hands were so tied.”
Perez is wanted in El Salvador for the aggravated homicide of five victims, his terrorist organization affiliation, attempted aggravated homicide and deprivation of liberty, according to ICE. Agents also arrested Rene Saul Escobar Ochoa, an associate of Perez, who allegedly ordered fellow MS-13 gang members to carry out a variety of crimes such as human trafficking, homicides and extortion.
Since President Donald Trump started his second term, ICE agents have arrested more than 273,000 illegal immigrants as of June 30, with 70% of those being criminals with convictions or pending charges, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The administration has further deported over 239,000 illegal immigrants throughout that timeframe.
Border encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border have drastically decreased in the 2025 fiscal year. In May 2024, while Biden was still in office, border officials encountered 240,924 illegal immigrants, according to Customs and Border Protection. In May 2025, border encounters amounted to 29,502.
Nearly a dozen violent assailants with weapons and tactical gear allegedly ambushed an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas, resulting in one local officer getting shot in the neck on July 4.
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