According to Homan, the contrast between then and now could not be more striking.
During the interview, he pointed to the fact that critics today frequently describe ICE and its leadership using terms once reserved for some of history’s darkest regimes.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for example, compared federal immigration enforcement to the “modern-day Gestapo” during a commencement speech.
Other Democrats have also employed similar rhetoric in recent years.
Rep. Stephen Lynch declared during a congressional hearing that he was “fighting today’s Nazis.”
Rep. Dan Goldman accused ICE leadership of using “outright fascist” tactics during a hearing with the agency’s acting director.
The White House has also argued that repeated comparisons between ICE officers and organizations such as the SS or Gestapo have fueled hostility toward federal immigration officers. Administration officials have cited a sharp increase in assaults targeting ICE personnel while blaming inflammatory political rhetoric for contributing to that trend.
For Homan, the debate is about more than political messaging.
He argues that immigration enforcement policies embraced under previous Democratic administrations have largely remained consistent in principle, while the political narrative surrounding those policies has changed dramatically.
To illustrate that point, Homan looked back even further than the Obama years.
He highlighted remarks made by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid during a 1993 Senate speech.
“If making it easy to be an illegal alien isn’t enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant?” Reid said. “No sane country would do that.”
Reid also supported legislation that would have ended automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who entered the country illegally—a position that would generate enormous controversy in today’s political climate.
Reflecting on that evolution, Homan argued that media coverage has played a major role in shifting public attitudes.
“I think the media has moved people far to the left because of their false reporting.”
Supporters of Homan’s position also note that President Obama was frequently labeled the “deporter in chief” by immigration activists after his administration oversaw record deportation totals. Federal data from fiscal year 2013 showed more than 438,000 removals, one of the highest annual figures on record.
Despite criticism from immigration advocacy groups at the time, Obama generally did not face comparisons from fellow Democrats to Nazi Germany or fascist regimes over those enforcement numbers.
Homan also used the interview to defend the Trump administration’s border policies, arguing that the humanitarian consequences of illegal immigration often receive far less attention than political disputes over enforcement.
He cited migrant deaths along the southern border and the continued impact of fentanyl trafficking entering the United States as examples of issues that deserve greater public focus.
According to Homan, stricter border enforcement has significantly reduced illegal crossings, limiting opportunities for criminal organizations to profit from human smuggling and narcotics trafficking.
He posed several rhetorical questions about the broader impact of tighter border security.
How many women are being spared from cartel violence because fewer people are attempting dangerous crossings?
How much fentanyl is being prevented from reaching American communities?
How many suspected terrorists are being stopped before entering the country?
“Securing the border is the most humane thing you can do,” Homan said.
Homan also argued that anti-ICE rhetoric has consequences beyond politics.
He maintained that when elected officials repeatedly portray federal immigration officers as fascists or secret police, public cooperation with law enforcement declines, making arrests and enforcement actions more dangerous for officers and suspects alike.
Among the lawmakers he criticized were Rep. LaMonica McIver, who urged supporters to “shut down the city” because “we are at war,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who called ICE agents “deranged” and described resistance to them as “inspiring,” and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who labeled ICE a “rogue agency” operating a “fascist police state.”
Homan argued that compliance during law enforcement encounters can often reduce the likelihood of violent confrontations.
“If they simply would have complied with federal law enforcement agencies on the road stops, they probably wouldn’t be dead.”
For Homan, the central argument is that the standards applied to immigration enforcement have shifted depending on who occupies the White House. He contends that policies once praised under Democratic administrations are now condemned when carried out under President Donald Trump, despite many of the underlying enforcement responsibilities remaining the same. Holding up the presidential award he received from Barack Obama, Homan says it serves as tangible evidence of how dramatically the political conversation surrounding immigration enforcement has changed over the past decade.
