Homan tells Minnesota leaders to say 'thank you' instead of demanding reimbursement as ICE operation ends
Border czar Tom Homan said Minnesota leaders should be grateful that the Trump administration made their state safer after some called on the federal government to reimburse damages they claim were caused during immigration enforcement operations.
"A lot of things were broken, but it wasn't because of Trump administration," Homan said Sunday on "Fox & Friends Weekend."
"The border — last four years, over 10 million illegal immigrants crossed that border. That was broken. Where were they then? Did Gov. Walz speak out against that, with the overdose deaths and the sex trafficking and... terrorists? No."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey publicly requested federal funds after what they described as the major economic impact of recent immigration enforcement operations, while Homan argued the mission was a "great success" that made Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests safer and reduced sanctuary-style barriers to cooperation.
Frey claimed his city sustained "$203 million in economic impact in just January alone."
"And so we're calling on the federal government to fully step up, to provide direct financial assistance to our city," he said at a press conference.
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Walz said the federal government needed "to pay for what they broke." He proposed a $10 million emergency relief package for small businesses across the state affected by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The proposal calls for forgivable loans ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 to be distributed to eligible businesses that are able to demonstrate "substantial revenue loss" during "specified dates" tied to Operation Metro Surge.
Homan argued that Democrats "broke the border" and President Donald Trump repaired it, adding that Minnesota refused to work with ICE because it is a "sanctuary state."
"Their county jails weren't working with us across the state. So, you know what? We fixed it. They ought to be saying thank you. The state's safer because of that," he said, adding that ICE agents are also much safer making arrests in a jail than on the street.
The border czar also pointed to "over 4,000 arrests," including "14 illegal aliens with homicide convictions, [and] 87 [with] sexual assaults, mostly of children."
Fox News Digital's Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.