Border Czar Tom Homan Clashes With CBS Interviewer Over Migrant Deaths

White House border czar Tom Homan confronted a CBS News immigration correspondent during a Friday interview, challenging the reporter's line of questioning regarding deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Homan accused CBS correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez of posing a "loaded question" and requested data on migrant deaths during the Biden administration.

Montoya-Galvez had pressed Homan on deaths in ICE custody under the Trump administration, noting that the current year could set a "new record high." He stated that official ICE data showed 57 people had died in the agency's custody under the Biden administration, with another death reported on the day of the interview. The correspondent suggested that while an increase in detentions could partially explain the rise in deaths, it might not be the sole factor.

Homan responded by repeatedly asking the interviewer for the number of deaths during the Biden administration. When Montoya-Galvez admitted he did not have the data readily available, Homan asserted, "Of course you don't," and characterized the question as a "loaded question against the Trump administration."

Homan defended ICE's detention standards, stating they are the highest in the industry and exceed those of state or federal institutions. He claimed that deaths in ICE custody are among the lowest compared to state prisons or the Bureau of Prisons. Homan attributed the increase in deaths to a doubling of the detainee population, which exceeded 70,000 at the time.

He further elaborated that ICE provides high-quality medical care, sometimes identifying serious health issues that detainees were unaware of and subsequently treating them. Homan recalled that during his tenure as ICE director, nearly a billion dollars were allocated for medical care.

Theo Wold, former acting assistant attorney general and deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy during the Trump administration, criticized the CBS interview. Wold stated that the reporter appeared to have "gotcha questions but no backup data," suggesting the interview's purpose was to "manufacture ideological sound bites" rather than inform the public. Wold also noted that increased enforcement under the Trump administration, which more than doubled Biden-era figures, naturally leads to more detentions and consequently, more in-custody deaths, often without fault of ICE or its officers.