Retired ICE Chief Blasts Dem Rep to Her Face, Says, 'You Work for Me, I'm a Taxpayer'
Tom Homan was by President Donald Trump’s side almost from the beginning of his administration.
Homan took over as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, 2017, after Trump’s “Monday Night Massacre” left Homan’s predecessor, Daniel Ragsdale, demoted and acting Attorney General Sally Yates fired.
Serving for a year and a half, Homan then retired from the administration. However, unlike some others who moved on from the White House, he continued to defend the president and the president’s immigration policies designed to keep the country safer. And Homan hasn’t let up since he left.
Fast forward to Thursday, and Homan could be found testifying before a congressional hearing on immigration policy and making Democrats regret that he ever made it onto the witness list.
Playing his foil was Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, vice chairwoman of the House Judiciary immigration and citizenship subcommittee, who was presiding over the hearing.
She was no match for Homan.
He wholeheartedly supported the president and the rule of law and was determined to hold her and her ineffectual colleagues accountable for their betrayal of the American people on all things illegal immigration.
Blasting those opposed to border control, Homan said, “Children are dying. Cartels are getting rich. Why am I angry? Because you haven’t done anything to fix it. Nothing. … There’s no downside on securing our border. There’s no downside in illegal immigration being decreased. There’s no downside on less drugs coming into this country.”
More interested in the clock than the truth, Jayapal finally got her chance to put the brakes on, saying, “The time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from –“
But Homan wasn’t finished. “I’ve asked you politely to go beyond my time. You let other people go beyond their time.”
When that evoked Jayapal’s gavel, Homan reminded her, “You work for me. I’m a taxpayer. I’m a taxpayer. You work for me.”
If you watch the video closely, you’ll see her eyes nearly pop out of her head when she realized what he just told her.
Following up on the encounter the next morning on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Homan said, “I think I got to say everything I had to say, but I had to force it. I had to keep interrupting them.”
Then he stood up for the president and ICE, saying, “Look, I’m under oath and I’m not going to let them sit there and tell lies about my president. Tell lies about the men and women of the Border Patrol and ICE. It was lie after lie. Then — it’s my responsibility to set the record straight because there are out-and-out lies.
“They are not going to shut me down and not let me respond at certain points. No, I’m not going to shut up. You lied.”
Wherever Trump found Homan, he needs to go back and get about a hundred more to clean out and straighten up a bureaucracy built on lies and shutting down the truth.
Jayapal had almost certainly never been talked to that way before, and certainly not by someone of Homan’s stature, standing or insight. She had met her match and then some, which is why she had to shut him down.
There are an increasing number Homans out there — men and women who care more about the truth than whether members of Congress and other muckety-mucks invite them to cocktail parties. For Homan, the country is more important than his ego.
Despite everything the media and Democrats say, Trump is the same way. Victor Davis Hanson once noted that it’s doubtful Donald Trump will be invited to too many cocktail parties after leaving office. He’s right. But Trump, like Homan, cares more about his country than his ego. And we haven’t had leadership like that in a very long time.
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