White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that while he personally dislikes federal immigration agents wearing masks, he believes the practice is necessary to protect officers amid what he described as a sharp rise in threats and violence.
“I don’t like the masks either,” Homan said during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “These men and women have to protect themselves.”
Homan claimed assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have increased by 1,500 percent and threats against them have risen by 8,000 percent. A January 26 news release from the Department of Homeland Security stated assaults against ICE officers had increased by more than 1,300 percent, though neither Homan nor DHS provided a specific timeframe or source data for the figures cited.
The remarks come as a partial government shutdown centered on DHS funding began early Saturday. Congressional Democrats and the White House remain deadlocked over proposed reforms to ICE and Customs and Border Protection enforcement practices.
The dispute intensified following the fatal January shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota during immigration enforcement actions. Since then, ICE’s tactics have drawn increased scrutiny.
Democrats have pushed for several changes, including requiring immigration agents to wear body cameras and visible identification, banning masks, prohibiting racial profiling, and mandating judicial warrants before making arrests on private property.
Homan, who said he is not directly involved in DHS funding negotiations, characterized some of those demands as “unreasonable.”
“They want to say, stop racial profiling. That’s just not occurring,” Homan said, arguing that ICE officers briefly detain and question individuals based on reasonable suspicion, not race. “There is no racial profiling.”
On the issue of judicial warrants, Homan said current federal law does not require them for ICE enforcement actions. “If Congress wants that change, then Congress can legislate. But right now, ICE is acting within the framework of federal statutes enacted by Congress and signed by a president,” he said.
In a separate interview Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would not support DHS funding without what he described as “dramatic change.” Rep. Robert Garcia of California also urged Republicans to take stronger action in response to concerns about ICE conduct.
Homan additionally confirmed that more than 1,000 immigration agents have left Minnesota, with several hundred more expected to depart in the coming days. He said a smaller contingent will remain temporarily to respond if agents are surrounded by protesters or if situations escalate.
