Border czar Tom Homan recounted on Fox News Sunday how he once had to educate Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on border law after she recently told him to “learn to read” the Constitution in response to his Department of Justice (DOJ) warning.
During a 2019 congressional hearing, Homan pushed back against Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism, explaining that U.S. border laws align with broader federal statutes, particularly regarding family separation policies. Appearing on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Homan responded to Ocasio-Cortez’s recent post on X, where she suggested he “learn to read” and start with the Constitution, dismissing her remarks as uninformed.
“Look, I forgot more about the Constitution and immigration enforcement than she’ll ever know. I mean, I had to educate her during congressional testimony that entering a country illegally is a crime,” Homan said. “But what she needs to do is read the statutes enacted by Congress. Title VIII, United States Code 1324 and 25. That’s what she needs to read. Because it’s illegal to enter this country.”
“It’s a crime to enter this country illegally. Not only that, when you harbor and conceal and impede law enforcement, that’s a felony. So what she’s doing, she says she’s, you know, educating them as to their constitutional rights,” Homan added. “We all know they’ve got constitutional rights. But what she’s really doing, you and I and the rest of the country knows, she’s trying to teach them how to evade law enforcement.”
During a July 2019 congressional hearing on family separations at the border, Tom Homan and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) clashed after she attempted to label him as the “author” of the “family separation policy” memo he had signed. Homan swiftly corrected her, clarifying that he did not write the policy and reminding her that U.S. citizens who are arrested are also separated from their children, the Daily Caller noted.
Homan further warned that Ocasio-Cortez is effectively instructing illegal migrants on how to “evade” law enforcement. He added that he hopes her rhetoric does not contribute to future tragedies, referencing the murder of 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
“Now, I just said we’re out of the gate. We’re concentrating on public safety threats, national security threats. So she’s educating those in the country illegally with a significant criminal conviction, public safety threat. ‘Don’t open your door. Don’t talk to ICE. Here’s how you evade law enforcement,’” Homan continued.
“Let’s hope she’s not educating the next person who gets out and murders a young college student in Georgia,” Homan said. “These are bad people we’re looking for. So she can call it education all she wants, but we all know it’s about evading law enforcement. These people have been ordered removed. The people we’re looking for now have final orders. They’re criminals. They’re in the country illegally.”
During a virtual event on January 11 via Ocasio-Cortez’s Facebook page, titled “Know Your Rights With ICE,” the New York lawmaker provided advice to illegal migrants on how to navigate encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, whether at home or at work. In response, Homan later cautioned Ocasio-Cortez, stating that he is working with the DOJ to assess whether the lawmaker may have crossed “the line” by potentially hindering ICE agents in the performance of their duties.