Border czar Tom Homan dismissed the warning issued to federal immigration enforcement by a member of the “the Squad” this week, instead issuing his own: Don’t cross the line.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Homan was unmoved by the admonition from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., about laying a “finger” on any member of Congress protesting or obstructing federal officials at the migrant detention facility in Newark, New Jersey.
“You can’t intimidate me. Come on, give me a break,” Homan said on CNN.
Ocasio-Cortez said Department of Homeland Security agents would have a “problem” if they arrested Democrat lawmakers. Homan said she has it backward.
“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,” Homan told CNN. “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. That is a felony. And you certainly can’t commit criminal trespass,” he continued.
The ruckus began last Friday at Delaney Hall in Newark, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility for illegal immigrants.
Newark Democrat Mayor Ras Baraka, was arrested and held for several hours after a confrontation with federal agents. He was joined in protest at the facility by New Jersey Democrat Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, all of whom a DHS official asserted the next day could face criminal charges for the altercation.
That prompted Ocasio-Cortez’s warning in a social media post on Sunday. Homan, in response, said she should be grateful for the administration doing more to keep her New York district safe than she does.
“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,” Homan said. “I worked for six presidents… I’ve seen hundreds of policies. Some worked, some didn’t. But you can’t deny the success of the Trump administration when it comes to border security.”
As for the three N.J. lawmakers, Homan told Newsmax Tuesday their behavior was “extremely unprofessional.”
“They want to prevent ICE from operating that facility. And when you force your way into the facility, when you cause chaos like this, it puts the officers at risk, the unarmed employees at risk,” Homan said.