Border Czar Tom Homan held an impressive press conference in Minnesota, stating that ICE is not leaving and that everyone will perform better.
“We are not surrendering our mission at all,” Homan told the press. “We are just doing it smarter.”
Homan confirmed that Attorney General Keith Ellison clarified that county jails will notify ICE when officials catch criminal illegal aliens and their release dates:
I’m also pleased to announce I had a very good meeting with Attorney General Ellison, and he has clarified for me that county jails may notify ICE of the release dates of criminal public safety risks so ICE can take custody of them upon the release from the jail.And let me tell you why that’s important. I know people are concerned about the the manpower that’s been set by law enforcement manpower. Look, I’ve said this many times before. I’ve said it for the last several years. Give us access to the illegal alien, public safety threat and the safety and security of a jail. It’s common sense. It’s safer for the community. It’s safer for the agent, and they’re safer for the alien, because anything can happen on street arrest.It just make common sense, and for the people that argue, “Well, we’re a welcoming community because we want victims and witnesses of a crime that are here illegally to feel safe, to come to police without fear that they’re working with ICE.”We’re not going to talk to the victim witness of the crime. There’s no problem there. They should feel safe to come to police and ask for help.All we want is to talk to the person that local and state law enforcement authorities locked in a jail cell. They chose to lock this person up. That’s who we want to talk to, to the public safety threat. So the argument is that it protects victim witnesses of crime. It’s bunch of crap.
One journalist asked Homan to clarify the government’s priorities.
Homan stressed that criminal illegal aliens are the priority, but illegal aliens with no records are not off the table.
“Now, all operations will be targeted, but the prioritization is going to be criminal aliens, public safety threats, and national security threats,” reiterated Homan. “We got a lot of we got a lot of them keep us busy. So that would be our focus.”
But Homan reminded illegal aliens that coming to the country illegally is a crime:
You can have your due process. Show up in court, not show up in court, get ordered to move. Don’t worry about it unless you commit a serious crime, you’re good to go. If that’s the message we sent to the world, you’re never gonna fix this problem.
Homan will also not tolerate any misbehavior by ICE or anyone in the administration. He doesn’t want excuses. He doesn’t want anyone thinking everything is fine and dandy:
In my meetings with Governor Walz, AG Ellison, and Mayor Frey, as well as state and local law enforcement, again, I appreciate they all acknowledge that we do have federal immigration laws in this country that have been passed by Congress, and that ICE is, in fact, a legitimate law enforcement agency charged with enforcing those laws.We’re not making this up, folks. ICE is enforcing laws enacted by Congress. They’re a federal statute.That said I’m not here because of the federal government has carried this mission out perfectly.First thing I said to senior staff and when I walked in here that’s what I told you. I didn’t come here looking photo ops or headlines. I come here looking for solutions. I do not want to hear that everything’s been done here has been perfect.Nothing’s ever perfect. Anything to be improved on. And what we’ve been working on is making this operation safer, more efficient by the book. The mission is going to improve because of the changes we’re making internally.No agency organization is perfect. President Trump and I, along with others in administration, have recognized that certain improvements could and should be made. That’s exactly what I’m doing here.As such, in meetings I’ve had with federal law enforcement managers, including ICE and CBP and other federal partners, as well as state and local officials, I have conveyed the President’s expectations with regard to federal immigration enforcement efforts, that we will conduct targeted enforcement operations, targeted what we’ve done for decades. We hit the streets. We know exactly who we’re looking for, good idea where we may find them.You have a criminal history, you have your immigration history, alot of information about this person that we get from numerous databases out there.Targeted, strategic enforcement operations. That’s traditionally been the case, and that’s where we’re going. That’s what we’re going to continue to do and improve upon that with a prioritization on public safety threats.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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