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

4 days ago

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

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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

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