In a fiery exchange on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, border czar Tom Homan took Joe Scarborough to school on immigration enforcement, exposing the left’s hypocrisy on vetting and making a compelling case for the Trump administration’s legal, humane, and effective border policies.
The segment began with Homan explaining the rationale behind encouraging self-deportation for illegal immigrants who haven’t yet received a formal removal order. “If you’re in the country illegally, go home. Do things the right way,” he said. “Then you don’t have that bar placed against you,” referring to the automatic reentry ban that kicks in after a deportation order. Homan explained that returning voluntarily keeps open legal options such as work visas or family-sponsored immigration.
What stood out most was Homan’s takedown of the Biden administration’s lax standards for vetting. “There was no vetting process for the hundreds of thousands—actually millions—of people they’ve released in the country,” Homan declared. “But now, they expect a vetting process for those who have seen an immigration judge, been ordered removed… it’s just ridiculous.”
Scarborough pressed Homan on whether migrants trying to do the right thing and self-deport would be treated humanely. Homan didn’t flinch: “We treat all people humanely. I’ve been doing this since 1984. We’re the most giving nation in the world.”
Homan laid out how migrants can voluntarily return home using the CBP One app, or by turning themselves in at an ICE office. “There’s a lot of ways to self-remove, and the government is willing to help you,” he said, stressing that illegal presence in the U.S. remains a crime, and must be corrected if migrants hope for legal reentry later.
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Scarborough attempted to push back, referencing due process concerns and Supreme Court rulings. But Homan stood firm, stating unequivocally: “We’re using the laws on the books… to remove people here illegally with a priority on public-safety threats and national security threats.”
When Scarborough asked if the Trump administration would comply with future court rulings, Homan replied, “Yes, sir. We will.”
Then came another blistering shot at Biden’s misuse of the parole statute: “President Biden stood on stage and said, ‘I’m bringing 30,000 a month in’ through CHNV,” Homan said, in reference to Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. “Where’s the case-by-case analysis required under the parole statute? There wasn’t one. Many of the Venezuelans he brought in weren’t even in Venezuela—they were in Ecuador.”
According to Homan, the Biden administration played a shell game with the numbers, funneling migrants through programs like CHNV and the CBP One app, and then claiming the border was under control. “Same illegal aliens, different buckets,” he said.
Homan also pushed back against the left’s moral posturing on immigration enforcement: “The American people voted for Donald Trump. This is his number one issue. Vast majority of Americans want illegal aliens removed from this country, and it’s done humanely.”
As the interview wound down, Homan returned to basics: “The statute says if you come to our border without proper documentation, you shall be detained. Not maybe. Not think about it.” He closed with a stark reminder: “When 95% fewer people are crossing the border illegally, how many women aren’t being sexually assaulted? How many children aren’t dying? How many pounds of fentanyl aren’t coming across to kill Americans?”
TOM HOMAN ON MORNING JOE -- Not one person was vetted coming into America, now Democrats want to vet everyone we deport.pic.twitter.com/IC7IGiRGs8
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 18, 2025
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