Border Czar Tom Homan has clarified that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are the final arbitrators as to which apprehended migrants are members of criminal gangs and should be deported, Axios reported on Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview, Homan justified the Trump administration's actions amidst widespread criticism over the handling of the mass deportations that have taken place since January. Homan said that ICE conducts a "deep dive" into a suspected criminal migrant's social media posts, criminal records, and immigration records as well as human intelligence such as informants and various forms of surveillance.
"ICE is the principal arbiter" in determining what aspect of a migrant's past warrant deportation, Homan told the outlet. "There's a Homeland Security task force and a lot of agents involved — But it starts with ICE."
The administration has argued the laws already on the books give them sweeping powers to identify and deport illegal immigrants and have started by going after the worst of the criminal elements. Yet their use of the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act was met with instant judicial rebuke.
In March, D.C. District Court Judge James Boasberg blocked the Trump administration's use of the act which the president invoked as justification for the rapid deportation of members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. Boasberg called the actions of the Trump White House "incredibly troubling and problematic" adding the administration engaged in "an unprecedented and expanded use of an act that has been used... in the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, when there was no question there was a declaration of war and who the enemy was."
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act saying the deportations may continue so long as the detainees are given due process. Those migrants apprehended by ICE must be given time to challenge their detentions via a habeas corpus claim and be able to challenge whether the act is being lawfully applied.
In a separate Supreme Court decision, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a lower court order regarding the controversial deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia of Maryland was deported to a prison in El Salvador. Homan did not comment on the Garcia ruling but reaffirmed the administration's priority of deporting as many criminal migrants as possible "using the laws on the books."
"People who are enemies of the United States don't have the same level [of] due process [as in] the normal process," Homan said adding, "People keep saying they have no criminal history. I've been doing law enforcement since 1984. Many gang members don't have criminal history. It's more than criminal history."