The White House is defiant regarding President Donald Trump‘s immigration policies, despite polls indicating he is losing support on the matter ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, pointed to “false media” reporting as the reason why Trump’s approval rating on immigration has been declining since his inauguration.
Recommended Stories
- ICE offers $50,000 bonus and student loan payoff for new hires
- Uncle Sam-themed DHS website urges US citizens to join ICE: 'AMERICA NEEDS YOU'
- Tom Homan blasts 'embarrassment’ Chris Van Hollen
“The false media stories, like I just said, that most people in [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detention aren’t criminals. Wrong. A majority is criminal. I see the numbers every day, but now the media is saying, ‘Well, they’re not criminal enough,'” Homan told the Washington Examiner.
Homan contended that there is “nothing in the Immigration Nationality Act that says you’ve got to commit yet another crime to be deported.”
“The bottom line is, I looked it up, 70% of everybody we arrested has a criminal history, and I told you, the other 30% are national security threats,” he said. “Most national security threats don’t have a criminal history. They’re lying low. A lot of gang members don’t have criminal histories. And the others, the non-criminals, everybody arrested in the country illegally, that’s not OK. It’s not OK to be in this country illegally.”
Home argued it is important to deport illegal immigrants; otherwise, people could be discouraged from immigrating legally.
“There are millions of people standing in line, taking their tests, doing their background investigation, paying their fees, sitting in the back seat, while millions of people under [former President Joe] Biden‘s administration cheated the system,” he said. “What you need to know, based on immigration court data, nearly nine out of 10 of those so-called asylum seekers end up with an order of removal. There are asylum seekers. There are also asylum cheaters.”
Trump’s average approval on immigration is net negative 7 percentage points. According to a Wednesday poll from RealClearPolitics, 45% of respondents approve of Trump’s approach to immigration, and 52% disapprove. His overall approval is net negative 5 points.
A survey by Fox News that was published earlier this week found that only 3 in 10 respondents support deporting all illegal immigrants, and 6 in 10 support only deporting people charged with crimes, but permitting others to remain and apply for citizenship. The poll also found that almost half of its respondents consider ICE “too aggressive,” a quarter believe it’s “not aggressive enough,” and almost 3 in 10 said it has the right posture.
“I’m not a politician,” Homan said. “I’m a border guy, and we’re enforcing the laws. We’re not making this up. ICE is enforcing laws enacted by Congress. I see all these people protesting, right? Why aren’t they protesting the Hill? If they don’t like what ICE is doing, go protest the people who wrote the bill. I see members of Congress comparing us to racists and members of terrorist organizations. If we’re terrorists for enforcing immigration law, what’s that make them? They wrote the law.”
WHITE HOUSE HOPES POSITIVE GDP REPORT WILL PLACATE RECESSION ‘PANICANS’
During the press conference, Homan also criticized U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, whom the Justice Department accused of misconduct for remarks he allegedly made in March. During a meeting of the Judicial Conference of the United States, Boasberg said the Trump administration could “disregard rulings of federal courts” and cause a “constitutional crisis.”
Homan went on to defend the Trump administration’s policies on Afghan refugees who may have helped the U.S. during the Afghanistan War but are ineligible for a special visa for permanent residence, or cannot access services because of an alternate visa or State Department funding cuts.