Tom Homan, who is set to become the border czar under the incoming Trump administration, has defended the projected $86 billion price tag for mass deportations, stating that ensuring national security and protecting American lives are beyond monetary value, according to The Hill.
“What price do you put on national security? I don’t think it has a price tag,” Homan remarked in an interview with NewsNation’s Ali Bradley. “What price do you put on the thousands of American moms and dads who buried their children? You want to talk about family separation; they buried their children because their children were murdered by illegal aliens that weren’t supposed to be here. I don’t put a price on that. I don’t put a price on national security. I don’t put a price on American lives.”
The planned deportation efforts, which are expected to cost $86 billion, were defended by Homan, who argued that the long-term advantages of the operation will far outweigh its initial costs. He pointed out that American taxpayers are already shouldering significant expenses, such as providing transportation, housing, healthcare, and education for undocumented immigrants.
“This operation would be expensive,” Homan acknowledged. “However, it’s going to save taxpayers a lot of money in the long run. Right now, we’re spending billions of dollars on free airline tickets, free hotel rooms, free medical care, free meals, the education system.”
While Homan strongly supported the deportation efforts, he admitted that securing congressional backing would be essential for its success.
“We need more resources; we need funding,” Homan said. “We obviously need to buy more detention beds because everybody we arrest, we have to detain, to work on those removal efforts and get travel documents, get flight arrangements. So we need more detention beds.”
Homan also made it clear that the administration’s goal is not to separate families during deportations, emphasizing that deportations would be carried out with families together. However, he acknowledged the challenges posed by U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants and suggested that halfway houses might be used as temporary accommodations.
“As far as U.S. children, that’s going to be a difficult situation because we’re not going to change your U.S. citizenship,” Homan stated. “Which means they’re going to be put in a halfway house or they can stay at home and wait for the officers to get the travel arrangements and come back and get the family. You know the best thing to do for a family is to self-deport themselves.”
Addressing the issue of birthright citizenship, Homan asserted that the presence of a U.S.-born child does not exempt undocumented immigrants from immigration enforcement.
“We can’t send that message,” Homan emphasized. “Because if we do, you’re never going to solve the border crisis.”
{Matzav.com}