Tom Homan, tapped to be President-elect Donald Trump's border czar in the next administration, told Newsmax on Thursday that illegal immigrants in this country are not law-abiding and that regardless of obstacles placed by blue state governors and mayors, illegals are going to get deported.
Homan also had a message for violent gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13: "My gang is bigger" than your gang.
Homan joined "Rob Schmitt Tonight" to talk about the wide-ranging and dangerous job before him beginning in January 2025. He took aim at Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who said this week that county jails and state prisons will not assist the federal government in rounding up and deporting the state's "law-abiding" illegals.
"What does that mean? It means [Pritzker's] hurting these people even more because we're going to arrest them regardless of what he says. If we have to take them out of state, away from their families, away from their attorneys, that's exactly what we're going to do," Homan said. "And using the term 'citizens' and 'law-abiding,' let me remind him: you crossed the border illegally, it is a crime.
"Every illegal alien in this country who entered this country illegally is a criminal by definition," he added. "If they're deported and came back, it's a felony. So they're not law-abiding. They broke the law coming to the United States, and we're going to find them, and we're going to deport them."
Homan said he's "very concerned" about potential violence in removing dangerous gangs from the U.S. but he's also undeterred.
"I've carried a badge and gun for, you know, 34 years, and I buried Border Patrol agents, I buried ICE agents, which is the worst part of the job in the world; handing out a flag to a child or a spouse is one of the worst things about the job," Homan told Schmitt. "But, look, I'm very concerned because these are dangerous people. But we got a job to do. We're going to do it.
"Tren de Aragua, MS-13, they're on notice. Their days of terror are coming to an end. My gang is bigger than their gang. And they're going to be a priority. We need to get them out of here," he added.
Schmitt asked Homan if he had a message to the American people ahead of his endeavor.
"Well, look, you know, I'm not heartless, but let me explain something to you: I spent 3½ decades doing this, and the tragedies I've seen in my career … made me who I am today," he said. "Securing the border is going to save lives. That's what this is about. And I'm not going to apologize for it."
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