Border czar Tom Homan forcefully responded Wednesday after new “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil pressed him on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, asking, “Where’s the heart,” in its mass deportation strategy.
During a lengthy sit-down, Dokoupil referenced comments President Donald Trump made during an October 2024 meeting with The Wall Street Journal editorial board, when Trump — then a presidential candidate — said “we have to have the heart” when carrying out deportations. Dokoupil followed up by asking Homan directly, “Where’s the heart in this?”
Homan defended both the policy and the agents carrying it out, and told the anchor exactly where the heart is; enforcement is rooted in public safety and compassion:
“The heart is a secure border saves lives. The heart is less sex trafficking is occurring. The heart is we’re finding missing children the last administration released children without properly vetting who the sponsors were,” Homan said. “We’re looking for these children, and a lot of the addresses were going to parking lots and supermarkets … they didn’t even check the address where these children were going to.”
“[Immigration and Customs Enforcement] ICE doing everything they can to enforce the laws enacted by Congress,” Homan said. “ICE said the vast majority of everybody they arrest are public safety threats. They’re making this country safe.” He emphasized that immigration officers are not indifferent to the human toll of their work.
“I want people to remember this. ICE agents, Border patrol agents, are mothers and fathers, too. They don’t hang their heart on the hook every day they come to work. They got a tough job … Enforcing the law sometimes is sad,” Homan added.
Homan argued that the administration’s policies are saving lives by deterring illegal crossings and weakening criminal networks. “But because of the actions of President Trump, thousands of lives are being saved every month. Ninety-six percent less people are coming because they know there’s consequences now, which means the most vulnerable people in the world aren’t giving the criminal cartels their life savings to make that dangerous journey.”
He further claimed that sex trafficking has dropped sharply and criticized the Biden administration’s handling of migrant children. According to Homan, the Trump administration has already located more than 129,000 migrant children out of roughly 300,000 that former President Joe Biden’s administration “lost track of and wasn’t even looking for.” Homan pledged that efforts to find the remaining children would continue.
According to the administration, during Trump’s second term the Department of Homeland Security has deported more than 622,000 illegal migrants. An additional 1.9 million migrants have chosen to self-deport, reports the Daily Caller News Foundation.
