Former acting ICE chief Thomas Homan on returning as border czar: 'Never say never'
President Donald Trump said former acting ICE Director Tom Homan is coming back as his border czar. But is he really?
"Look, I came back once from retirement and became the director... I will never say never," Homan told WSJ at Large host Gerry Baker on FOX Business on Friday. "If I can help this president I certainly will, but I have not accepted a position yet... but never say never – especially in the middle of a national crisis."
Baker asked Homan what's being done to combat the staggering numbers of migrants overcrowding the country's detention facilities, and Democratic lawmakers' description of these holding center as "appalling and inhumane."
"What's going on there?" Gerry asked. "What's the real situation?"
"The IG report that came out wasn't a surprise to anybody," Homan said. "Especially the Border patrol agents who have been dealing with this for months," he continued. "We all know the conditions are bad, but when you put 500 people in a building that is designed for 100 it's not going to be good."
Homan stressed that the Border Patrol, Health and Human Services, and even President Trump have been pleading with Congress for months to provide help, with little to no avail.
WATCH: TOM HOMAN TO AOC: NO MIGRANTS ARE DRINKING OUT OF TOILETS
Homan is pushing for a change to the Flores Settlement Agreement so migrants who travel across the border as a family unit with children are able to be held together in a family residential center long enough to see a judge, as oppose to the current 20 day limit for migrant children.
"It takes 40 to 45 days to initially see a judge," Homan explained. "The Executive Office for Immigration Review just came out with their data a few weeks ago that 90% of final orders, meaning 90% of judges decision of order removals are issued in absentia – meaning people didn't show up to court," he said.
Over 56 thousand migrants have been apprehended at the U.S. southern border as of May, according to Custom and Border Patrol's latest report, and under current system, the number of asylum seekers has surged in the last few years from an average of 40 thousand a year, to more than 160 thousand last year, this according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
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But the main point Homan wants American citizens to understand is how hard Border Patrol agents are working to accommodate the massive influx of migrants across the border.
"They are doing a job they didn't sign up to do," he said. "They are changing diapers, making formula, dealing with sick kids, they're taking sicknesses home to their own families," he continued. "They are bringing toys from their own kids to the centers so the migrant kids have toys to play with."
"These men and women at the Border Patrol, they're doing a fantastic job under difficult circumstance and they deserve our praise and respect," he added.