Tom Homan, President Trump’s border czar, fired back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who recently warned administration officials they would face a “problem” if they continued to arrest Democratic Party lawmakers.
Homan said Tuesday that he cannot be intimidated while claiming Ocasio-Cortez was insufficiently grateful to immigration officials for keeping her district safe.
“First of all, you can‘t intimidate me. Come on, give me a break. You know, I was enforcing — I was wearing a green uniform, Border Patrol agent for five years before she was even born. I had more than three decades enforcing immigration law before she became a member of Congress,” he said in an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead.”
“I worked for six presidents. I‘ve seen policies. I‘ve seen hundreds of policies. Some worked, some didn‘t,” Homan told host Jake Tapper. “But you can‘t deny the success of the Trump Administration when it comes to border security.”
The border czar defended the administration’s immigration crackdown, arguing Trump’s policies have given the U.S. “the most secure border in the history of this nation.”
“And I said from day one, and she knows this, you can not support ICE. Shame on you. You can support sanctuary cities. Shame on you. But you can‘t cross the line,” he said. “You can‘t knowingly impede ICE law enforcement officers. That is a felony.”
“You can‘t harbor and conceal, knowingly harbor and conceal illegal aliens from ICE,” Homan continued. “That is a felony. And you certainly can‘t commit criminal trespass.”
His criticism of Ocasio-Cortez comes just days after a trio of New Jersey lawmakers — Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — and Newark mayor Ras Baraka attended a protest outside of an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. The mayor was arrested at the event earlier this month and later released.
Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Kristi Noem also threatened actions against the House members, claiming they pushed and shoved others in the crowd, including agents, and has called for them to be censured. Watson Coleman has strongly denied DHS’ claims.
The fiery New York lawmaker pushed back on Noem’s suggestion, calling it “public intimidation.”
“If anyone’s breaking the law in this situation, it’s not members of Congress, it’s the Department of Homeland Security,” the progressive lawmaker said during an Instagram video on Sunday. “It’s people like Tom Homan and Secretary Kristi Noem.”
“You lay a finger on someone, on Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman … or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem,” she added. “Because the people who are breaking the law are the people not abiding by it.”
Homan, who has sparred with Ocasio-Cortez on several occasions, suggested the administration has done more to protect her Congressional District, which is made up of Queens and the Bronx, than she has.
“You know, and as far as New York, her district, this administration has done more to protect her district than she has,” he told CNN. “The number of criminal aliens we took off the streets of New York made her community much safer.”
“She ought to be thanking the members of this administration, the men and women of ICE, who protect this country and make her community safer,” he added.
