Border czar Tom Homan defended sending “designated terrorists” to prisons like the one in El Salvador, saying that the “travesties” he’s seen during his decades-long career in border security justify the Trump administration’s move.
Homan appeared on ABC’s “This Week” in a pre-recorded interview that aired Sunday, where he was asked if he had any qualms about sending people to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) even if they have no criminal record.
“If people wore my shoes for the last 40 years and seen the travesties I’ve seen, they would understand that the worst of the worst need to be sent to a prison like that because we got to protect American citizens,” Homan said. “We got to protect this country.”
Homan said his four decades of experience working in border security informed his belief.
APPEALS COURT DENIES DOJ BID TO BLOCK RETURN OF KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA FROM EL SALVADOR PRISON
White House border czar Tom Homan talks with reporters at the White House, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“What you don’t know, what most readers don’t know, they haven’t seen and experienced what I’ve seen in my 40 years,” Homan told ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
“I’ve talked to young girls, the youngest nine, that were raped by members of these gang cartels,” Homan continued. “I’ve held dead bodies throughout my career. I’ve talked to a hundred … angel moms and dads whose children were killed and brutally murdered by members of MS-13 who just didn’t kill them, they mutilated them, they tortured them.”
PHOTOS: GOP DELEGATION PROVIDES INSIDE LOOK AT CONTROVERSIAL EL SALVADOR PRISON HOUSING US DEPORTEES
The Trump administration’s plan of sending the “worst of the worst” migrant gang members to CECOT has caused national controversy, with some outraged Democrats accusing Trump of “kidnapping” people for deportation.
A prisoner is moved at the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
One Democrat, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, flew to El Salvador last week to meet with deported illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Trump officials say Abrego Garcia was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, though Democrats argue that he was deported without due process, regardless of being an alleged gang member.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.