Photo: Alamy
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan wasted no time correcting CBS News’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on Sunday when she attempted to argue that the Biden administration had deported more illegal migrants than Trump did during his first presidency.
Brennan began, “Deportations are now at a decade high. They were at the end of 2024. Nearly 300,000 people deported by the Biden administration.”
She then quipped to Homan, “The incoming administration has promised the largest deportation operation in history. What’s the number? What’s the measure of success?”
Homan told Brennan that 80 percent of deportations under Biden were from arrests by Border Patrol and were not “interior enforcement arrests.” He added that the Biden administration was “playing a numbers game.”
Brennan pressed back and told Homan that Biden’s deportation numbers were still higher than Trump’s, to which Homan responded, “You can’t compare the number of deportations under Trump versus Biden. When you consider a 45-year low in crossings, the number of deportations [is] going to be lower because we don’t have that population to process and deport.”
Many media outlets previously used this tactic to give the impression that the Biden administration was cracking down on fentanyl seizures and other border issues but would simultaneously fail to mention that record number of crossings would coincide with more seizures and deportations.
Homan also told Brennan that Trump “is going to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats.” He pointed out that “the southwest border has become the biggest national security vulnerability we’ve seen in this nation.”
He discussed how Central American countries complied with Trump’s demands during his first administration to accept deported migrants and addressed Venezuela’s reported reluctance.
“If they don’t they’re still going to be deported, they’re just going to be deported to a different country. We’re not going to be held up from removing public safety threats.” Homan remarked.
He told Brennan, “We’ve gotta put the safety of the American people first. We’ve had too many young women murdered and raped and burned alive by members of Venezuelan gangs. They need to be a priority under this administration. They’re gonna be a priority starting on day one and they will be deported.”
