Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan slammed New York freshman representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and left her speechless during Congressional hearings on Friday on the topic of family separations at the southern border.
The Daily Caller reported that the heated exchange began when Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tried to nail Tom Homan down as being the “author” of the “family separation policy” memo, which he had signed.
Tom Homan noted that, while he didn’t write the policy, he had made “numerous recommendations” to Homeland Security, including implementing a “zero tolerance” policy for illegal border crossers.
“Which includes family separation,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez interrupted.
“The same as it is with every U.S. citizen,” Tom Homan shot back. “Parent [who] gets arrested with a child.”
After a brief moment of pause, the seemingly rattled Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said, “Zero tolerance was interpreted as the policy that separated the children from their parents.”
“If I get arrested for DUI and I have a young child in the car I’m gonna be separated,” Tom Homan said. “When I was a police officer in New York and I arrested a father for domestic violence, I separated that father from his family.”
“Mr. Homan, with all due respect, legal asylees are not charged with any crime,” said the congresswoman.
Homan was ready for that, with a specific U.S. code no less: “When you’re in this country illegally, it’s violation 8, United States Code 1325.”
“Seeking asylum is legal,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez insisted.
“If you want to seek asylum, you go through a port of entry,” Homan responded. “Do it the legal way. The Attorney General of the United States has made that clear.”
“Okay,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
The New York freshman representative also responded to the exchange on Twitter after the hearing, arguing that limited ports of entry at the southern border and restrictions on how many can enter through even the open ports created a desperate situation for many seeking asylum.
The Dems have made political theater out of the fact that Trump’s administration once separated children of illegal immigrants from their parents at the southern border, even though the same practice was prevalent under Ex-President Obama’s administration as well. President Trump signed an executive order ending the policy in June 2018.
