Border czar Tom Homan said on Thursday that the Trump administration has arrested about 40,000 people who were illegally residing within the United States, claiming that most of them were threats to public or national security.
Homan on Thursday defended President Donald Trump's immigration policies during a roundtable discussion in Sarasota, Florida, hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis with Chad Wolf of the America First Policy Institute and New College of Florida President Richard Corcoran.
During the discussion, Homan accused the previous administration of "rewriting statute" on immigration.
"We're gonna enforce immigration law. Unlike the last administration … they told ICE agents, immigration officers, you cannot arrest an illegal alien for simply being here illegally. Here's the executive branch rewriting statute," Homan said.
"They told ICE officers you can't enforce the law; unless they're convicted of a serious crime, you can't arrest them. Well, that garbage is over with!"
"If you're in a country illegally, you got a problem," Homan continued. "Now we're gonna prioritize public safety threats first, and that's what we're doing. But it's not OK to be in this country illegally. It's against the law. It's not OK to cross the border illegally."
He went on to vow to "deport criminals every single day" and said the administration is "not going to stop doing what we're doing" despite a judge's order to halt deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
"Well, I found it remarkable that any district judge has the authority to overrule the president's executive orders, and what he basically wanted us to do is turn the planes around in midair full of terrorists and bring them back into the United States, which is ridiculous, and we didn't do it," Homan said. "Now, we turn to litigation."
Homan also said the U.S. Supreme Court should address Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship.
"I think the Supreme Court finally needs to answer that question. I'm not a lawyer, but I can read," Homan said. "And I don't think it's clear that an illegal alien who has a child in the country is automatically a U.S. citizen."
Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states in part: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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