Border czar Homan says misinformation spread regarding Sackets Harbor immigration detentions

Yahoo

13-04-2025

Apr. 13—WATERTOWN — Federal border czar Thomas D. Homan says he wants to set the record straight on events that took place in Sackets Harbor, his seasonal hometown, that led to a woman and her three children being detained March 27 by immigration officials.
Homan, a West Carthage native, said contrary to many reports, he did not "plan" the search at North Harbor Farms that ended with a South African citizen being charged with distributing child pornography and the detention of seven dairy farm workers on immigration violations.
He said he was first notified of the situation by Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, who asked if Homan was aware of what was occurring.
"I did not know what happened in Sackets until it was already done with," Homan said Sunday at the Times's office.
He said as President Donald J. Trump's border czar, he does not get involved in specific Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations or arrests.
"Border Patrol and ICE make thousands of arrests a day. Criminal operations take place a hundred times a week. I can't be on top of every one of them," he said. "My job right now is to provide the strategic plans on securing the border with the focus on public safety threats and national security threats."
He said his job includes finding 300,000 "missing" children who were released into the country to "unvetted sponsors" during the Biden administration, many of whom are forced into labor or sexually trafficked.
"We've got to find these kids and save them. That's my job," he said.
Homan said he is hearing misinformation that law enforcement didn't have a search warrant to enter the house where the mother and three Sackets Harbor Central School District students lived. He said a federal court warrant was obtained allowing all buildings on the property to be searched as part of an internet-based investigation into child pornography.
"The idea that Border Patrol and ICE were going door to door looking for illegal aliens is not true. They stuck within the frame of the contents of that warrant. This family was arrested in a house that was covered by this warrant," he said.
He said there is also misinformation about how long the family has been in the U.S., with it being said the family has been in the country 15 years. He said the family entered the U.S. illegally on June 19, 2022, in Texas and were deported. They re-entered the country, again illegally according to Homan, on Aug. 15, 2023, less than two years ago. They were released with orders to follow up with immigration coordinators.
"There are millions of people in this world who want to come to the greatest nation on earth the right way. Taking their test, doing a background investigation, doing the vetting, paying their fees. You come to the greatest nation on earth the right way. They're sending back millions of people who crossed the border, under Joe Biden, illegally, which is a crime and cheated the system," Homan said.
He said the family was taken to a family residential center in Texas for follow-up investigations and interviews, with Texas being the closest such center.
"A family residential center is built, its purpose is, for families. Not criminals. Families. It's not a jail. It's not a county jail, not a state prison. It was built for families," Homan said.
He said the family underwent a health screening on April 1 and were offered, but declined, a mental health review on April 2. On April 4, they were interviewed by a Homeland Security Investigations case agent and forensics interview specialist to determine if they were possibly victims of a crime or a material witness to one, and then released April 6. The family is still involved in the deportation process, according to Homan.
Homan said the decision to release the family was made independently and solely by ICE with no input from him. He said, despite published reports otherwise, the decision to release the family had no correlation to an April 5 protest in Sackets Harbor in which about 1,000 people marched past Homan's home.
"The protest had no influence on me," he said. "I said from the beginning, the decision to release, and when, or if it would happen, would be based on the criminal investigation and how that played out."
"Tom Homan didn't order the operation; Tom Homan wasn't aware of the operation; Tom Homan didn't order the detention; Tom Homan didn't order the release. This was done by the numbers," he said. "I got involved and got information because this is my home."
"The reason I'm up here is because I love this community," he said. "You can hate me all you want, but hate me based on facts, for God's sake. There's a lot of people in this country that don't like me because of what I do, who I work for, that's fine. I'm used to that."
"But if you think sending a thousand people to my summer lake house that I spend three weekends a year at, because I'm just so busy, to protest at a vacant house, where I'm not even there and my family's out of the country, had any effect on that release is just simply ridiculous," he said.
He said a criminal investigation has begun into people "doxxing" his home, or releasing private information about him and where he lives for the purpose of harassing him. He has a 24-hour security detail at his Virginia home and always travels with a security detail.
"Here's my concern; my family, ever since I took this job, the death threats are outrageous," he said. "All the time, there are death threats from criminal cartels in Mexico, terrorist organizations and other people that just don't like me."
"People don't like me, people hate me because of what I do, but I'm not running a popularity contest. Hate me all you want, it's not going to change what I do for this country or the job I have to do," he said.
Homan said he believes what he claims is the spread of misinformation has unnecessarily divided the Sackets Harbor community.
"When I leave here today, they can still hate me, but hate me based on the facts," he said."I hope the community heals, because I love this community. But I am not going to apologize for doing the job the American people elected Donald Trump to do."
He said the Trump administration has secured the southern border, with a 95% decline in illegal immigration, a "record number" of terrorist or national security threats have been arrested and removed from the country and missing children continue to be found.
"People need to understand, in the north country, that every night when they go to bed, when they're asleep in their bed, two or three o'clock in the morning, the men and women of the Border Patrol and ICE are out there on the street protecting this nation, protecting our communities and arresting a lot of bad people," he said.
"Don't hate on them for doing their job. If you want to hate on someone, hate on me. I'm okay with it, because I'll defend the men and women of Border Patrol and ICE as long as they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, at my direction, or the president's direction, then I've got their backs."