White House border czar Tom Homan speaks with reporters on the West Wing driveway at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Thomas Homan, the executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, passing the buck to others in the administration he deems responsible for the failures.
Homan was sent to take over Minneapolis after U.S. Customs and Border Protection Greg Bovino was excused from overseeing the operation.
Tapper wanted to know about the investigations into the shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti. In both cases, evidence and information was witheld from state investigators. Homan said it isn't something he concerns himself with because it's within the Justice Department's purview.
"That's a question for DOJ. That happened before I had my feet on the ground in Minnesota," said Homan. He noted that since the first shooting of a protester, he's consistently said he won't comment on the investigations.
Tapper couldn't help but give Homan props for making it as long as he has in the city without any of the federal agents under his lead shooting and killing anyone else.
"Look, the president called me and asked me to go to Minnesota and asked me to get up there that same day, and I went up there, you know, I just did things the way I've done for 40 years, and I know a lot of people questioned, why are you meeting with the governor? Why are you meeting with the attorney general? And Mayor Frey?" said Homan, noting nothing gets solved in an echo chamber."
"That's how, my experience, that's how you fix problems. You don't fix it in an echo chamber. So I met with him. And look, we came out, I think it's safer. A safer Minneapolis because now we have coordination with the jails that we didn't have before. And the criminal aliens that everybody agrees. I think even most of the Democrats that, you know, we agreed criminal aliens should be something ICE focused on," he continued.
"I mean, you sound like an adult," Tapper said. He noted that while Homan has done things like de-escalate and bring state, local, and federal partners together, ICE and CPB have destroyed their credibility, not only in Minnesota.
"Not because of you, sir, but over and over your colleagues who work on this issue [Secretary Kristi] Noem, DHS, on social media have said things to the American people that are simply not true the most recent example perhaps two immigration agents last month said that they shot a Venezuelan man in Minnesota after they were attacked with shovels and broom handles," Tapper recalled.
He noted that Noem and DHS were quick to again claim that officers were under attack.
"But then testimonyand video shown in court didn'tback up the claim," said Tapper. And now the ICE and the Justice Department are investigating whether those immigration officers lied. Andwe've seen countless examples."
Homan dodged again. All he would do is point out that he had brought in more "internal affairs" staff to review the allegations and investigate.
"I'm not going to — I'm not going to let the media divide this administration. Look, it's one team, one fight. And, you know, do you and Secretary Noem agree on everything? No, we have discussions, and we have different opinions, that's what makes it a strong team. We bring different ideas to the table, then agree on a mission based on, you know, again, you can't work in an echo chamber. You want to hear different opinions," he said.