Watch: Tom Homan Leaves CBS Journalist Speechless, Frozen on Camera With Simple ICE Question He Can't Answer
The media doesn’t really care about the job Immigration and Customs Enforcement does unless it’s actually doing its job — namely, enforcing immigration and customs law.
It basically spaced on that for most of President Joe Biden’s administration, and President Donald Trump has reversed that. Most of America should be cheering that, but we can’t because the left and the media (and yes, as always, I do repeat myself) has told us that they’re quite evil for doing so.
It’s not as if these people know what they’re talking about, though. As if to prove it, in an interview with border czar Tom Homan, a CBS journalist was stumped when he was asked how many people died in ICE custody under the Biden administration — despite the fact he’d just given a long, data-sodden spiel about how many people had died in ICE custody under Donald Trump’s presidency.
The viral clip, in which CBS News’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez tries (rather unsuccessfully, I would say) to ad-lib to keep the facade of experience up.
“We looked at official ICE data, sir, and found that 57 people have died in the agency’s custody so far under this administration,” Montoya-Galvez said during the interview.
“In fact, somebody was just reported to have died in ICE custody today by the agency; 2026 could set a new record high in the number of detainees dying. What is being done to prevent that? And I know one partial explanation is that more people are being detained and, so tragically, more people are dying. But that can’t be the only explanation, can it be?”
There’s no good answer to that question as posed, which doesn’t address how they die or what they died of, but merely ascribes all these deaths, by the nature of the question, to malice. It gets close to “When did you last beat your wife?” territory in terms of the loaded question fallacy.
So, Homan had a question of his own: “How many people died during the Biden administration?”
Pause. Then, again: “How many people died in custody during the Biden administration? Do you know?”
Finally, Montoya-Galvez had an answer: “A significant number,” he said. He was asked again. He got back to the question he wanted to ask: “But this is going to be the highest year in 2026,” Montoya-Galvez said. “I’m just asking if the pace continues —”
“Do you know how many died during the Biden administration?” Homan asked again.
Looking down at his papers, Montoya-Galvez admitted the obvious: “I don’t have the data here.”
“Of course you don’t,” Homan responded. “Again, it’s another loaded question against the Trump administration.”
Homan then went about addressing the substance of that loaded question, such as it may be.
“We have the highest detention standards in industry, higher than any state or federal institution. Our deaths in custody … are among the lowest of any state prison or Bureau of Prisons. Numbers are up because our population has doubled in custody. We got over 70 — I think the other day we had like 74,000 in custody,” he said.
“So we have more people in custody, and we’re dealing with people from third-world nations,” he added.
“Some of the first doctors they see are our doctors. And matter of fact, no one ever talks about how many lives that ICE saves in detention when they found a serious medical issue that the alien didn’t even know about and we treat. When I was ICE director, I think we spent almost a billion dollars on medical care.”
💥NEW: Tom Homan *TURNS TABLES* on CBS News immigration correspondent and STUMPS him💥
CBS News’ Camilo Montoya-Galvez asked Homan about deaths in ICE custody under Trump, claiming they “could set a new record high.”
While Montoya-Galvez noted the Trump Admin was detaining far more illegal immigrants, he argued that couldn’t be the sole reason.
Homan fired back by asking how many died in custody under Biden.
Montoya-Galvez sat silently for 4 seconds.
Homan asked again and again.
Montoya-Galvez had no idea what the answer was.
When he finally acknowledged he didn’t have the data, Homan retorted: “Of course you don’t.”
Homan asserted Montoya-Galvez’s question was an example of bias against Trump.
He also defended ICE’s detention standards.
Deaths in ICE detention are tragic, no matter which administration they occur under.
But it doesn’t seem like there was anywhere near as much attention on this issue under Biden.
Not only did Montoya-Galvez not know the data, it looks like he did not even cover ICE detention deaths under Biden.
No wonder Homan’s question stumped him.
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) October 4, 2026
“Again, it’s unfortunate, and it’s sad when anybody dies. I don’t want to see anybody die, but we do everything we can to give them the best medical care that we can provide. And again, highest detention standards,” Homan continued.
“I think if you look at deaths in custody compared to state prisons or federal penitentiaries, I think we’re one of the lowest. At least the last time I looked at the data — it was probably a couple years ago — we’re the lowest.”
Oh, and in case you were wondering, as of September 2024, 23 people had died in ICE custody under Biden, according to the National Immigrant Justice Center. Three more deaths were reported after this, bringing the total to 26.
But of course, these raw numbers were beside the point. The Biden administration only occasionally pretended to enforce immigration law, which necessarily leads to fewer deaths in custody. If there’s evidence of malfeasance or unusually Dickensian conditions in ICE prisons under Trump, CBS News should bring it out. If not, don’t ask the question. Period.
Although you have to admit, watching the journalist embarrass himself as the seconds ticked by may have been worth it for its own sake.
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