Staff Reports
Tom Homan told Alex Marlow in a straight-shooting interview that Congress already has the tools to fix this crisis if it has the backbone to use them, and he pointed to three concrete legal fixes that would end the incentives driving illegal immigration. Americans tired of the chaos should listen: this is not theory — it is practical enforcement wisdom from a man who spent decades on the front lines.
Homan laid out the three changes clearly: overhaul the asylum rules so claims must be filed at ports of entry, reform the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to close loopholes, and replace the Flores settlement that forces rapid releases of families into the interior. He argued these three moves would collapse the illicit market that cartels and smugglers exploit and remove the incentives that turn children into tickets into the country.
Starting with asylum, Homan and other conservatives say the asylum system has been gamed for years by people who never followed the law but know how to wait out enforcement and become de facto residents. Practical statutory changes like those in recent House proposals would limit asylum eligibility to those who present themselves at ports of entry and close the backdoor that encourages mass crossings between ports.
Then there is Flores, the court settlement that has incentivized family caravans by requiring quick release of children and families and capping detention — a perverse rule that has become an invitation to organized migration. Fixing or replacing Flores so families can be detained together for reasonable processing would restore deterrence and stop the “kids as tickets” business model that bribed smugglers and enriched cartels.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was written to protect victims, but it has also been exploited by criminal networks who traffic vulnerable minors and then use the law to secure rapid release and long, drawn-out adjudications. Reforming the TVPA and related regulations to distinguish genuine victims from trafficking-enabled fraud is humane to real victims while cutting off the perverse legal advantage now enjoyed by criminal enterprises.
Homan didn’t stop at theory — he’s been publicly pushing for aggressive enforcement measures, including ordering migrants to self-deport and treating refusals to comply as criminal conduct, steps the administration has already signaled it will use to re-establish order. That kind of tough love is exactly what’s needed: deterrence, swift removal, and prosecution where necessary so that America’s laws mean something again.
Congress can act tomorrow if it chooses. Enough committee hearings and press conferences — pass the asylum narrowing language, fix Flores, tighten TVPA protections, and fund the detention and repatriation capacity to make the laws real. The American people deserve a secure border and a government that will stop rewarding lawbreaking; leadership, not excuses, is the only thing standing between us and sanity at the border.
If Republicans want to keep their majority and if conservatives want security instead of chaos, now is the time to deliver results, not rhetoric. Homan gave Congress a template that protects real victims, rips away the cartels’ business model, and restores the rule of law — lawmakers who refuse to act will own every preventable tragedy and every broken community that follows.
