Democrats in Congress, by comparing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to "terrorists and racists and the Nazis," are giving "nuts on the left" incentive to attack them, and the mainstream media is not helping matters, Trump administration border czar Tom Homan told Newsmax on Friday.
"I put a lot of blame on members of Congress," Homan told "Wake Up America," adding that such talk "emboldens" would-be attackers. "Congress needs to stop the rhetoric."
Homan pointed out that two months ago, he said that if such attacks didn't stop from the nation's leaders, "there would be bloodshed, and unfortunately, I was right. A man was killed while attacking a border patrol facility in Texas, and there was an ambush at an ICE facility. You know, a dozen people with weapons trying to ambush ICE agents. A cop was shot there."
He also said he blames the media for the division.
"They're saying most of the people in ICE detention are not criminals," Homan said. "That is not a fact. If you look at our retention capacity right now, over a majority of them are criminals."
He added that there are also a "bunch of terrorists or suspected terrorists" who can be held under a mandatory detainment order or others who expedited removal is mandated by statute.
"They don't tell you that story," said Homan. "They're playing with the numbers, and that misleads the American people, thinking ICE isn't doing what we're saying they're doing. The fact is, ICE is concentrating on public safety threats and national security threats. That is the priority."
But, said Homan, the media is "beating America across the head with a false narrative because they're embarrassed … we're proving them, they were wrong, and they can't handle it."
Meanwhile, the number of immigrant encounters dropped to just over 25,000 for June, the lowest point in decades, according to reports, and Homan praised President Donald Trump for his action on border security.
"I started in 1984. I've never seen numbers anywhere near this low," said Homan. "The success of the men and women of Border Patrol, the men and women [are] standing on that line 24-7. While most of us are sleeping at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, there's someone standing on a dirt trail at the southern border. It's the most secure border in the history of this nation."
And when the border is secure, that means drops in fentanyl coming across the border, and the sex trafficking of women and children is at a "historic low," said Homan. "A secure border makes the country safe."
Homan also on Friday pushed back at New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who has been speaking out against ICE and Trump, including stating that the arrests are breaking up families and spreading fear in the city.
"More families were separating [under former President Joe] Biden than at any time in history," he said. "Over half a million children were trafficked in this country, put in the hands of criminal cartels, away from their parents, put in the hands of criminal cartels, and smuggled across this country. And they lost track of 300,000 of them."
Homan also said that New York City is safer now, with the number of immigrants going down.
"This is the same guy that tried to approach me in Albany," he said of Mamdani. "I gave a speech, and [he was] screaming and yelling, you know, and I just, I paid no attention. I continued to eat my apple and walked out of the event. But look, he's a showboat, and he doesn't understand what he's talking about."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.