Trump Border Czar: ICE’s Word Is Enough to Prove Someone’s a Gang Member

Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s so-called “border czar,” has said that nothing more than the word of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent is needed to prove that a noncitizen living in the U.S. is a gang member, and thus subject to deportation.

Trump signed an executive order earlier this year asserting his right to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport immigrants living in the U.S. if they are deemed by the administration to be violent gang members. Hundreds of migrants have been deported on that basis, even though an analysis by CBS News found that nearly three-quarters of the people sent to a prison in El Salvador had no criminal record at all.

Those who have been deported have largely been denied their due process rights, which would have allowed them to argue against being indiscriminately labeled as a gang member by the administration.

In an interview with Axios that was published on Tuesday, Homan appeared to dismiss those concerns, claiming, without evidence, that even those with no criminal history are members of violent gangs.

“People keep saying they have no criminal history,” Homan remarked in the interview. “I’ve been doing law enforcement since 1984. Many gang members don’t have criminal history. It’s more than criminal history.”

The border czar suggested that ICE was performing “deep dive” investigations on migrants, including looking at social media and relying on information from informants, as well as engaging in other surveillance methods. But ultimately, he said, if an ICE agent suspected someone of being in a gang, that was all the evidence needed.

“ICE is the principal arbiter” in making these determinations, Homan said.

That line of reasoning denies immigrants, including those who are authorized to live in the U.S., their due process rights, which are protected under the Constitution.

Immigration advocates have sounded the alarm over Homan’s assertion, noting several recent cases with troubling outcomes. In one example, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a lawful resident living with his wife and child in Maryland, was wrongly deported alongside the supposed Venezuelan gang members sent to El Salvador. The Trump administration has even admitted in court filings that Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error,” though they don’t believe they have to return him to the U.S.

“Gangs” aren’t the only justification for deportations without due process by the Trump administration — harboring pro-Palestine viewpoints is also being used as a justification. In another example, Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, a PhD student at Tufts University, was abducted by plainclothes agents this month who didn’t identify themselves to her. Because Ozturk had previously written an op-ed opposing Israel’s genocide in Palestine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio falsely accused her of engaging in acts of vandalism and harassment of Jewish students.

Mahmoud Khalil, a former student at Columbia University who helped organize student encampments for divestment from Israel, was also abducted by ICE agents and has reportedly had his green card revoked over his activism.

Marc Van Der Hout, one of Khalil’s attorneys, recently told Truthout’s Marjorie Cohn that what is happening to these individuals and others is reminiscent of another dark chapter in U.S. history.

“This is the McCarthy era all over again,” Van Der Hout said.

“What the Trump administration is attempting to do to Mahmoud is truly outrageous,” Van Der Hout added. “The provision of law that the government is trying to use to deport Mahmoud, a legal permanent resident of this country, is virtually unprecedented in this context.”