Former acting ICE Director Thomas Homan discussed the incoming caravans and what qualifies for an asylum claim on Tuesday during a discussion with Mark Steyn on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
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“We are the most welcoming country in this world. We welcome more refugees in the United States than every other country in the world combined. So, enough. You can’t want to be part of the greatest country on Earth and not respect our laws,” Homan began. “Seeking a better life does not qualify for asylum, so they are committing fraud. So that is a stone cold fact. What’s going on at the border, look, this president has gotten our nation ready, he’s got additional CBP officers down there, he’s got DoD down there, building extra infrastructure, they are building facilities to detain people, which is a secret.”
“What this president needs to do, which hasn’t happened in the past, if they get to the United States and enter, they need to be detained until they see a judge because the Central American population is right around 89 to 91 percent would lose their case because they don’t qualify for asylum,” he continued. “But they have to be in custody when they lose their case so they can be removed, which sends a strong message to the rest of the world that we are a nation of laws. We will give you due process but you have to live by the judge’s decision, also.”
TOPSHOT – Honduran migrants take part in a new caravan heading to the US with Honduran and Guatemalan national flags in Quezaltepeque, Chiquimula, Guatemala on October 22, 2018. (ORLANDO ESTRADA/AFP/Getty Images)
The conversation then turned to the federal judge who issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against President Donald Trump’s proclamation denying asylum for all foreign nationals who enter the country illegally. The ACLU challenged the proclamation in court, arguing it violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). (RELATED: Sarah Sanders Calls Judge That Ruled Against Trump’s Asylum Rule An ‘Activist’)
“The ACLU just sued the Trump Administration for the right for people to enter this country illegally and be able to claim asylum. The ninth circuit has lost their minds and this is going to continue. This is not so much about the rule of law but an attack on the Trump Administration,” Homan added. “But when he gives an asylum proclamation, he bases it on the same general principle as the travel ban. We won that in the Supreme Court, we will win this. The problem is, until he gets to the Supreme Court, thousands and thousands and thousands of more caravans will come because of this ruling.”
