Democrats seeking to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] are misleading the public about the agency's actions, because it has a much larger function than opponents admit, former acting ICE Director Thomas Homan said Wednesday.
"Every person that crosses the border, nobody would look for them," Homan told Fox News' "Outnumbered," where he was Wednesday's guest commenter. "Every person that gets caught and wants to see a judge, once the judge orders him removed, nobody will look for them."
ICE does even more, though, said Homan, who retired in June.
"We do drug trafficking and terrorism investigations . . . we do investigations about smuggling technology to countries that are not supposed to have it, like weapons technology. We do significant homeland security investigations."
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., plans to introduce a bill to put an end to ICE, while allowing other immigration laws to be enforced. He claims President Donald Trump misuses the agency to enforce his policies, including a zero-tolerance policy that had led to children and their parents being separated at the nation's border with Mexico.
"The problem with the message from Pocan and the others, they're not looking at the facts," Homan said. "Everybody we arrested last year had a criminal history. Nine out of 10 people had a criminal history. We're prioritizing that first. [Chuck] Schumer, [Kirsten] Gillibrand and Pocan and [Dick] Durbin, they say ICE lost their message. These are the same congressmen and senators that support sanctuary cities."
Homan also praised planned legislation from Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., that would change the charges for first-time illegal border crossings from a misdemeanor to a felony offense, saying the bill could be an additional help with reducing illegal immigration.
"You can't want to be part of this country and not respect its laws," Homan commented. "You can't have it both ways. Not under this president."
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