Dana Bash Asks Border Czar About Deportation Policy
Well, buckle up, folks, because the battle over sanctuary cities just got a whole lot more intense. Former White House border czar Tom Homan is making it crystal clear: the days of playing nice with sanctuary cities are over. Speaking on CNN’s Inside Politics, Homan pulled no punches as he laid out the Trump administration's approach to enforcing immigration laws—and let’s just say, it’s a dramatic departure from the lax enforcement policies we saw under the last administration.
Homan didn’t mince words when he called out sanctuary cities for what they are: roadblocks to law enforcement. He made it clear that these so-called “safe zones” for illegal immigrants aren’t doing anyone—least of all American citizens—any favors. When local governments refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), they don’t just shield criminals from justice; they force ICE to go into communities to track them down. And here’s the kicker: when ICE agents go looking for their target, they’re not walking out empty-handed if they find others in the country illegally. Those individuals are getting processed, detained, and prepared for deportation, too.
Watch Dana Bash do a double-take in shock and horror as Tom Homan explains to her that an illegal alien doesn’t have to be convicted of a serious crime to face deportation.
Amazing stuff. pic.twitter.com/QdNAgOhyEe
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 21, 2025
“When you release a public safety threat out of a sanctuary jail and won’t give us access to him, that means we’ve got to go to the neighborhood and find him,” Homan explained. “And we will find him. But when we find him, he may be with others—others that don’t have a criminal conviction and are in the country illegally. They will be arrested too.” In other words, the sanctuary city policies that Democrats love to champion are inadvertently leading to more widespread enforcement, not less.
Now, for those clutching their pearls about the term “raids,” Homan was quick to clarify. These operations aren’t some haphazard roundup of anyone and everyone. They’re carefully planned, thoroughly investigated, and specifically designed to target individuals who are already breaking the law. But here’s the part that really riles up the Left: under federal law, you don’t have to be a hardened criminal to be removed from the country. Simply being in the U.S. illegally is enough. Imagine that—enforcing the law as written!
Of course, sanctuary cities would rather virtue signal than cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Instead of handing over dangerous criminals to ICE, they release them back into the community and pat themselves on the back for being "compassionate." But compassion for whom? Certainly not the victims of these criminals or the law-abiding citizens who have to live with the consequences of these reckless policies.
And let’s not forget, this isn’t just theoretical. Sanctuary policies have a proven track record of putting lives at risk. Time and time again, we hear stories of illegal immigrants with violent criminal records being released back onto the streets, only to commit more crimes. This isn’t about immigration as a whole—it’s about public safety, plain and simple. When cities like San Francisco or New York prioritize illegal immigrants over their own citizens, they’re not making a principled stand; they’re endangering their communities.
Homan’s message was clear: under the Trump administration, ICE isn’t going to sit idly by while sanctuary cities thumb their noses at federal law. This administration understands that immigration enforcement isn’t optional—it’s essential. “There’s nothing in the Immigration and Nationality Act that says a person has to be convicted of a serious crime to be removed from the country,” Homan said. And he’s absolutely right. The law is the law, and it applies to everyone.
But the resistance from sanctuary cities raises a larger question: why are these places so eager to shield illegal immigrants from accountability? Is it ideological stubbornness? Political grandstanding? Whatever the reason, it’s clear that these policies aren’t sustainable. They’re forcing ICE to work harder, spend more resources, and, ironically, make more “collateral arrests” in the process.