Border czar Tom Homan speaks out about ICE sweep near Sackets
WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, is speaking with 7News about an immigration case in his own backyard.
He says it’s important for people in the North Country to understand the facts and not gravitate to hate.
The case happened last Thursday when agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement went to North Harbor Dairy in the town of Hounsfield.
Homan says they went there for “the bad guy.” That guy was a South African man who was allegedly dealing in child pornography.
Homan says while agents were there, they found another 7 illegal aliens, including a mother and her 3 children.
All were taken away, upsetting many a community that argues the family was navigating through the immigration system and attending hearings.
Homan says that could bode well for the family but first, the investigation needs to get done in case the family can be a witness in the child porn case, and to make sure the children weren’t victimized.
“It wasn’t a raid. It was a search warrant execution at a house where a family was found in the country illegally. ICE is doing everything by the book. Once the investigation gets to the point where we don’t have an interest in this family, then a decision will be made on release,” said Homan.
“Here’s what people need to understand. During investigations like that, we have to ensure that any children within that area are safe. There’s a process during these investigations where could these children- could that family be a material witness in this horrendous crime? Can they provide information and evidence in this crime? Were they victimized within this crime? So, the due diligence was done,” said Homan.
He continued, “First of all, the family is not in a jail. They’re in a family residential center, it’s an open air campus. So the investigators are doing their due diligence. The victim witness specialists are reviewing the safety and security of the children, medical evaluations- it’s usually a part of the investigation, so the investigation continues. It’s a criminal investigation.”
“After we have all the stuff to put together, the safety and security of the children, can they provide witness testimony? Were they safe? All these things- the due diligence to protect children is being done. Once that’s done, then the ICE agents will make a decision [as to] what’s the best course of action in the future. Is it release?”
Homan says the investigation could wrap up in the next couple of days and it’ll be up to ICE agents and investigators on what happens next, but it is a possibility that the family could return to the North Country.
There’s more to our 23-minute interview with Tom Homan. You can catch the full conversation, a 7News Extra, below.
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