Tom Homan, the White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations was welcomed into the Arizona House of Representatives by a joint session of the Arizona House and Senate on Tuesday to share an update on the Trump Administration’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants and secure the southern border.
As Homan entered the chamber the Republican legislators took to their feet and applauded, while the Democrats remained seated and silent. Within minutes of Homan beginning his remarks, the Democrats rose holding protest signs and left the House chamber.
Homan focused early in his remarks on drawing a clear distinction between the enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump with a lack of the same under former-President Joe Biden which he characterized as “mismanagement,” adding “this was done on purpose, this was done by design.”
He began by laying out the three tasks Trump assigned to him, “President Trump gave me three things to do, three responsibilities, one, secure the border, two, run our deportation operation, the largest deportation operation in the country to see, and I’m gonna tell you in a minute why that’s important, and three, to find missing children. And we’re gonna find those missing children.”
As the Democrats filed out Homan quipped, “I love it. Thank you for making my day. I love haters, they make my day every day.”
NOW: AZ Dems walk out of a joint session of the Arizona legislature, as Trump Admin “border czar” Tom Homan began to speak. @KTAR923. pic.twitter.com/qlAP13r1js
— Balin Overstolz (@balin_om) April 8, 2025
In a post to X, Arizona House Democrats claimed, “Members held names of legal residents and students who have been disappeared by Homan and ICE. We assembled outside and spoke to the media and the public about protecting the due process and equal protection under law.”
Later in his remarks Homan would refer to his Democrat detractors several times, roundly criticizing them for their inaction during the Biden administration.
“Under Biden administration, half of the men and children? They were smuggling into this country. Taken out the hands of their families, giving them to a criminal cartel to be smuggled this country. And we’re the bad guys?”
“All these people who just walked out, what did they do? Did they speak up about that? Did they speak up to the fact that 300,000 of these children can’t be found because they’re released to unvetted sponsors? The last administration had one goal, process quick, release quick, because there’s no overcrowding, we can say ‘the board is secure, nothing to see here,’” said Homan.
“Many of these children are in forced labor or in sex trafficking, fat. ICE has already found some in forced labor and sex trafficking, fact. Well, all these people that walked out carrying signs, do they care? They wanna focus on Tom Homan bringing back family detention. Why is Tom Homan talking about family detention? So, we can do DNA tests and make sure that child is with a parent and not a trafficker. We’re trying to protect children,” stated Homan. “We’re doing the right thing. They say, ‘Tom Holman, the father of family separation.’ Whatever.”
Homan offered severe criticism of the Biden Administration’s handling of illegal immigration and currently Democrat-run so-called ‘sanctuary cities.’
He then squared his sights on former-Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas telling the legislature, “The last administration, Alejandro Mayorkas, who everything he did was with borderline treasonous, told ICE officers, immigration officers who took an oath to enforce the law saying ‘You can’t arrest somebody for being here illegally unless he is convicted of a serious offense.’ He rewrote the immigration law. No. We’re letting ICE do their job and when you’re out there looking for that bad guy if you find illegal alien you take him to and he’s coming too, and he’ll be detained. We’re gonna enforce the laws of this country without apologies.”
Homan also chided ‘sanctuary city’ leaders saying, “As far as sanctuary cities, I’ve been to Boston, I’ve been to Chicago, you know, Chicago said I wasn’t welcome. Guess where I was day one, the Trump administration in Chicago. We arrested TdA (Tren de Aragua) members, we arrested illegal aliens with firearms, we arrested illegal aliens, drug traffickers who arrested two illegal aliens that committed homicides. We arrested nine child rapists.”
I made a speech at CPAC and that made them, you know, every media said, ‘Homan is going to Boston and bringing hell with them.’ Yeah, I said it and I meant it,” explained Homan. “Who was I bringing hell to? I was bringing hell to nine illegal aliens that raped a child and weren’t turned over to ICE. They’d rather release them in the community. One of them was a child rapist. It took us two years to find him. How many children did he rape in two years when he walked in the streets? Because that sheriff refused to cooperate with us.”
As he concluded his speech, he referred once again to his detractors among Arizona’s political class saying, “We will not apologize for sending two plane loads of terrorists out of this country. I cannot believe any judge will order anybody bringing those two plane loads of terrorists back to this country. President Trump put America first. Of course we’re litigating that case. We just had a big win on that yesterday.”
“We’re going to keep having wins because President Trump’s put America first. He’s not going to apologize for removing terrorists from this country ever. And I will not rest if every member of TDA and MS -13s are eradicated from this country. Then I’ll take a day off. But until then, hate on me all you want. I know I got a lot of haters in this room, but I don’t give a shit. We’re gonna get this job done with no apologies,” concluded Homan.
In a press release prior to Homan’s remarks, Speaker of the Arizona House Steve Montenegro said, “Arizona is ground zero in the fight to secure our southern border and protect American communities. Tom Homan is a patriot who has dedicated his life to defending our nation’s sovereignty and keeping Americans safe. Now, as the Border Czar for President Trump’s administration, he’s leading the long overdue federal effort to restore law and order,” said Speaker Montenegro. “His firsthand experience and no-nonsense leadership are exactly what our members need as we advance our Majority Plan to promote public safety, preserve the American Dream, and protect the rights and liberties of every Arizonan.”