White House border czar Tom Homan on Wednesday questioned why some Republicans are distancing themselves from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation operations, telling them to meet with the agency about their concerns.
Several GOP candidates in competitive races for reelection, including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), recently released advertisements distancing themselves from ICE’S deportation agenda.
Their move to appeal to more centrist voters comes as Republicans fight to stave off losses in the midterm elections. But Homan sent GOP rebels a rebuke during a CBS interview, specifically calling out Salazar’s statement that Hispanics feel “betrayed” by President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign as a “pretty bold statement to make.”
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“Give me an example of where we went too far,” Homan said. “I wish they’d sit down and talk to ICE. I wish they’d find out: What is ICE doing? How are they doing it? And educate themselves.”
Despite Salazar’s criticism, Trump later stood by her, saying he still supported her bid for reelection. The Florida congresswoman also noted that she had a “very good conversation” with the “very receptive” Trump on the topic.
De La Cruz’s ad featured a man she reportedly helped get released from ICE custody, along with his wife. The woman praised the Texas congresswoman for tackling the “broken” immigration system and helping her husband, telling viewers, “I’ve voted Democrat before, but Monica puts people over politics.”
Bipartisan scrutiny of ICE grew earlier this year, after two U.S. citizens were killed during the agency’s operations in Minnesota in January, raising questions about tactics used by federal agents.
When pressed on Renee Good’s death at the hands of ICE officers in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide anti-ICE protests, Homan expressed regret over the incident.
The incidents involving Good and Alex Pretti, the other U.S. citizen killed by ICE in Minneapolis in January, occurred during Kristi Noem’s tenure as leader of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.
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Outrage over the killings was one of the factors that led to Noem’s resignation and Markwayne Mullin’s promotion to DHS secretary. In the meantime, Trump dispatched Homan as his top mediator to Minnesota to soothe tensions in the state earlier this year.
“I don’t want to see any tragedies happen,” Homan said this week. “I wish Renee Good was alive today. I wish that incident [didn’t] happen, but it happened, and it’s being investigated. I don’t want to see anybody die.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
