Tom Homan Slams Legacy Media Question: Got Biden ICE Death Numbers?

In his second term, President Trump has made some amazing Cabinet and staff picks, not least of which are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. But one of his best picks was his choice for border czar, Tom Homan, who has been working this job for years now. Mr. Homan is not only dogged in his pursuit of people in the United States illegally, but he is also adept at handling "gotcha" questions from the legacy media.

On Monday, CBS News' Camilo Montoya-Galvez tried to trip Mr. Homan up with a "gotcha" question. Mr. Homan promptly slam-dunked her.

Here's the question:

CBS News' immigration correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez asked Homan about deaths in ICE custody under the Trump administration, noting that this year could set a "new record high."

"We looked at official ICE data, sir, and found that 57 people have died in the agency's custody so far under this administration," Montoya-Galvez said. "In fact, somebody was just reported to have died in ICE custody today by the agency. 2026 could set a new record high in the number of detainees dying. What is being done to prevent that? And I know one partial explanation is that more people are being detained and, so tragically, more people are dying. But that can't be the only explanation, can it be?"

And, now, the slam-dunk.

"How many people died during the Biden administration?" Homan immediately replied, followed by a long pause. "How many people died in custody during the Biden administration? Do you know?"

"A significant number," Montoya-Galvez replied.

"Do you know?" Homan pressed further.

"But this is going to be the highest year in 2026," Montoya-Galvez continued. "I'm just asking if the pace continues —"

"Do you know how many died during the Biden administration?" Homan pressed again.

"I don't have the data here," the CBS interviewer admitted.

Of course she didn't have that data. That would require preparation and honest reporting. The legacy media isn't about that, not when they can try for a "gotcha" from an administration official. But Mr. Homan wasn't done yet.

"We have the highest detention standards in industry, higher than any state or federal institution. Our deaths in custody ... are among the lowest of any state prison or Bureau of Prisons. Numbers are up because our population has doubled in custody. We got over 70 — I think the other day we had like 74,000 in custody," he said.

Homan went on to argue that the quality of ICE medical care is so high to the point detainees are helped with medical issues they didn’t even know they had.

"So we have more people in custody, and we're dealing with people from third-world nations," he said. "Some of the first doctors they see are our doctors. And matter of fact, no one ever talks about how many lives that ICE saves in detention when they found a serious medical issue that the alien didn't even know about and we treat. When I was ICE director, I think we spent almost a billion dollars on medical care."

Key point, and one that the legacy media will never take into account, as it doesn't align with the agenda: many of these people, the illegal immigrants swept up by ICE, are already in substandard health. Whether it be because of Third World origins, or because of alcohol or drug abuse, or any number of other reasons, illegal aliens are almost certainly more likely to have an overall level of health that's lower than that of your general run of American citizens. And yet, ICE maintains a medical staff, and spends millions on healthcare for illegal aliens in their custody; as Mr. Homan notes, sometimes the first doctor these people have ever seen in their lives are the doctors they encounter in an ICE facility.

But the real point here is this: A reporter for a legacy media news station, who was in an arranged interview with a senior administration official, didn't come equipped with the one piece of information that would have been most useful in the discussion: The track record of the previous administration on the exact same issue. That's a failure by any measure.

Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people. 

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