Tom Homan Defends Deporting Alleged Venezuelan Gang Members Under Alien Enemies Act

yesterday

Border Czar Tom Homan speaks to reporters outside the White House.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Could you walk us through just some of the behind-the-scenes on how you carried out some

00:07of the deportations and the plights for being invoked under the Alien Enemies Act?

00:13How did that play out behind the scenes?

00:15Do you know the timing of the judge's order?

00:18Look, let me say this.

00:21The President, through proclamation, took his authority under the Alien Enemies Act

00:27and imposed it, which he has a right to do.

00:30TDA has been designated terrorist organizations.

00:33TDA is the enemy of this country.

00:35We know TDA, based on a lot of evidence, are part of the Maduro regime.

00:41Through the military and law enforcement, they've infiltrated them.

00:43And look, they've invaded this country to unsettle this country,

00:47whether it's through fentanyl killing thousands of Americans

00:51or through the violence they're perpetrating in our cities.

00:53The President did the right thing. I stand by him.

00:55And we removed in one day over 200 dangerous people, including MS-13.

01:00It was the right thing to do.

01:01And I see the video that President Bukele put out.

01:04It was a beautiful thing.

01:05These people are going to be held accountable.

01:07Is every one of those guys a member of the gang?

01:09How do you know it, and why can't they sort that out with a lawyer in a hearing?

01:12Look, we abided by the court's decision.

01:15His written order was on five illegal aliens that didn't want to be deported,

01:18and we abided by that.

01:20By the time the other order came, the plane was already over international waters

01:24with a plane full of terrorists and significant public safety threats.

01:29And, you know, to turn a plane around over international waters,

01:33what, are we going to refuel over international waters, come back and bring terrorists back to the United States?

01:36That's not what this President promised the American people.

01:38What the President did was the exactly right thing.

01:40So they're all trying to talk about every guy who was on that plane?

01:43I'm not familiar with every single case on that plane,

01:45but that's my understanding, MS-13 members and TDA members.

01:51And let's remember, many of those on the plane were removed through Title VIII,

01:54not through the Alien Enemies Act.

01:56So, again, it was the right thing to do.

01:58That's what the people of this country mandated President Trump,

02:01deal with the border crisis, deal with illegal immigration, and deal with illegal alien crime,

02:05and that's exactly what we did.

02:07We removed terrorists. That should be a celebration.

02:09We removed terrorists from this country, and I stand by what the President did.

02:12I support 100 percent.

02:13How do you determine whether somebody is a gang member?

02:16What criteria do you use?

02:18Through various investigations.

02:21A lot of the ways we do it, it's law enforcement central.

02:24I'm not going to share all that with you, but whether it's through social media,

02:28through the activities, through the criminal records here and abroad.

02:32So, you know, this was done a very—the review of this issue was at the highest level I've seen,

02:40and I think, again, I stand by everything we did this weekend,

02:43and I think the President keeping his promise to the American people.

02:47We removed terrorists from the country this weekend.

02:50I can't believe any media would question the President's ability to remove terrorists from this country.

02:55What do you say to those who claim you're using a 200-year-old law to circumvent due process?

03:02An old law?

03:04Not as old as the Constitution. We still pay attention to that, don't we?

03:08How many more terrorists do you plan on deporting to El Salvador?

Tom Homan Defends Deporting Alleged Venezuelan Gang Members Under Alien Enemies Act

Category

Transcript

Recommended