Abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as demanded by liberal activists and Democratic politicians “equals open borders,” the agency’s former chief warned on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” late Wednesday.
“The president is right — [abolishing ICE] equals open borders,” former acting ICE Director Thomas Homan (pictured above) told Fox News host Tucker Carlson, referring to President Donald Trump. “If you enter this country illegally and happen to get by the [U.S.] Border Patrol, no one is looking for you.”
“Less criminal aliens will be arrested, less drug traffickers will be arrested, less child predators will be arrested, less children will be saved from child predators. It’s just terrible to even think about,” Homan added. “So the president’s right — abolishing ICE equals open borders.”
Calls to “abolish ICE” permeated national discourse after Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s June 26 upset victory in the Democratic primary against House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.). Ocasio-Cortez’s platform included the demand, which previously was heard only among the far-Left fringes of the Democratic Party.
Democrats increased their calls to abolish ICE amid the controversy earlier this year surrounding the Trump administration’s since-scrapped policy of separating illegal immigrant children from adults claiming to be their parents at the border.
Trump ripped Democrats and “abolish ICE” activists during a ceremony honoring border security and immigration enforcement officials Monday, charging that “these open border radicals have blocked access to ICE buildings, defaced public property, and threatened public safety.”
“Leading members of the Democrat Party have even launched a campaign to abolish ICE. In other words, they want to abolish America’s borders,” Trump said. “We condemn these shameful attacks on our great law enforcement. Any politician who puts criminal aliens before American citizens should find a new line of work, because it’s not going to work.”
Homan, a New York native, rebuked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for demonizing ICE and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) for calling for its abolishment.
“I’m a native of New York and I am disgusted by the governor of New York, Cuomo, and Sen. Gillibrand,” Homan said. “I’ve done more for the safety and security of New York state by arresting 5,000 criminal aliens off the street in New York that walked out of other sanctuary city jails.”
Protesters have swarmed ICE offices and heckled Trump administration officials and lawmakers, calling them racists and comparing them to Nazis. Homan said that the vilification of ICE and its agents is “insulting.”
Related: Most Americans Don’t Want ICE Abolished, Survey Finds
“They are pointing the finger at sworn law enforcement officers, vilifying them for enforcing the laws that Congress enacted,” Homan said. “But they are not going to bully ICE for … doing our jobs.”
Homan said he once had 80 protesters convene outside his home, “two weeks after I retired. They are not going to shut me up. I’m going to keep fighting this fight and we’re going to prove to the American people that ICE is a very important agency that does a lot of important … ICE is an agency full of patriots that protect this nation.”
Carlson replied, “I think normal people understand that.”
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