Staff Reports
Border Czar Tom Homan dropped a blunt, take-it-or-leave-it line on a cable show this week: roughly 60% of the people ICE is arresting are criminals, and the other 40% are not — “and I think that’s a good percentage,” he said. That simple math should make politicians who preach softness on border policy very uncomfortable. It also tells you what the debate is really about: enforcing the law versus protecting people who are here in the country illegally, regardless of whether they’ve committed crimes.
What Homan actually said on the Ingraham Angle
On the show, Homan was clear that the administration is prioritizing “public safety threats” and “national security threats” under President Trump’s guidance. He didn’t pretend ICE has unlimited resources. He said ICE is arresting some non-criminals when agents are hunting criminal aliens. But he argued you can’t selectively ignore the laws just because a mayor or governor says so.
Why this matters for New York and other sanctuary havens
Homan made his point personal when he warned New York Governor Kathy Hochul that when ICE goes into communities to find the “bad guys,” they will also catch others who are in the country illegally. Translation: sanctuary policies that block cooperation with federal authorities don’t stop enforcement — they just make local residents less safe. If you shelter people who are in the country illegally, don’t be surprised when enforcement reaches into your community to get the real criminals.
The practical takeaways for border security and public safety
This isn’t abstract. If 60% of arrests are criminal aliens, then the logic of prioritizing threats holds. Conservatives have said for years you can’t have one set of rules for people who obey the law and another for those who don’t. Homan’s frank talk forces the issue: do you want law and order, or do you want a policy that protects status over safety?
Call it blunt, call it politically inconvenient, but enforcing immigration law is what ICE does. If politicians want to change that, they should run for Congress and change the law. Until then, tough talk about “compassion” doesn’t keep neighborhoods safe. Homan’s numbers — and his common-sense conclusion — deserve to be part of the debate, not drowned out by political excuses.
