Read the full transcript of incoming Border Czar Tom Homan’s speech at Turning Point USA’s “AmericaFest” event in Phoenix, Arizona on December 22, 2024.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
TOM HOMAN: How you doing? So look, if I offend anybody today, I don’t care. Some in the media says I’m offensive. I’m okay with that. If I get to live in their minds rent-free, that’s kind of cool.
Border Security Concerns
Hey, look, for the last three and a half years, I wake up every morning pissed off about what this administration did to the most secure border in my lifetime. I’ve worked for six presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan, and every president I worked for took steps to secure the border because they understood you can’t have strong national security if you don’t have border security. We didn’t know who’s coming in, what’s coming in, where it’s coming in.
No one’s better than President Trump. He was one bad-ass president who secured the border at unprecedented levels. Illegal immigration at a 45-year low. Illegal immigration down 83 to 90 percent. Extraordinary work.
Joe Biden is the first president in history of this nation who came into office and unsecured a border on purpose, not by mismanagement, not by incompetence. They unsecured a border by design.
Trump’s Re-election and Future Plans
The first day I smiled when President Trump won this election. I woke up the next morning, I was happy. I smiled for the first time in a long time. Then I got angry again. Because even though they lost the election, they’re still moving thousands of illegal immigrants in this country every day.
CBP1 app’s still running. They’re selling pieces of border wall, for God’s sakes, that you, the American taxpayers, paid for at a hefty price, and now we’ve got to buy it again. There is no smooth transition. They’re going to destroy this country up to the last day they’re in the Oval Office.
But I got news for them, January 20th, the greatest president in my lifetime is going to walk into the Oval Office and take this country back. President Trump called me a few Fridays ago and says, “OK, you’ve been bitching about the border for four years. You want to come fix it?” I said, absolutely.
I’m back. I got to learn how to retire. This is the second time I’m going to retire to come back to this president. But I love this president because he loves this country. I love this president because he wants to secure the border. I love this president because securing the border saves lives.
Biden Administration’s Impact on Border Security
What Joe Biden did by unsecuring the border is this. Sex trafficking, up over 600%. No respect to terrorists. People on the terrorist watch list, well over 300 apprehended. President Trump, in four years, we had 13. We ended catch and release.
Joe Biden’s released at least 8 million illegal aliens in this country in violation of federal law. And I’ve said it before, for the millions of illegal aliens that have been released in this country in violation of federal law, you’re going home, and Tom Holman’s going to make sure that happens.
Think about this for a moment, what they did. They created the biggest national security vulnerability this nation’s ever seen. I already said there’s over 300 people on the terrorist watch list. Well, there’s over 2 million known gotaways. Why did 2 million people pay more to get away? Why didn’t they pay less to be turned over to the border patrol, be released within 24 hours, get a free airline ticket to the city of their choice, get a free hotel room at 500 bucks a night, get three square meals a day, get free medical attention, and get work authorization within 120 days?
Why did they pay more not to take advantage of this free giveaway program? Because they didn’t want to be vetted. They didn’t want to be fingerprinted. These are gang members. These are the ones carrying fentanyl across the border. And these are people from terrorist-related countries.
National Security Concerns
After 9-11, we created all these databases. You’ve got the FBI screening database. You’ve got the DOD intel database. You’ve got the visa security program, which stopped thousands of people from getting a visa to come to the United States like the terrorists of 9-11 did. So we vet them now, and we vet through the process. You don’t get a visa if we find derogatory information in your background.
But what terrorist today is going to put himself in a position to ask for a visa or ask for an airline ticket when he can simply go to Mexico and be a part of that two-man gotaway? I don’t know how many terrorists cross this border under Joe Biden, but someday we’re going to find out, and it’s going to be a bad day for America. When that happens, we’re going to have one bad-ass president of the White House, not Donald Trump, who’s going to make sure we respond appropriately.
Personal Motivation
People always ask me why I take this so seriously. People say, Tom Holman’s a racist. Tom Holman’s a Nazi. Say whatever you want. I don’t give a shit.
Why do I care? I care because I’ve stood in the back of a tractor-trailer with 19 dead aliens that suffocated and baked to death, including a five-year-old little boy that died in his father’s arms. Throughout my career, I’ve seen tragedy. Self-held dying children. I’ve seen dead aliens on the trail. I’ve talked to little girls as young as nine years old that were raped multiple times by criminal cartels. They’re animals.
When you look into a little girl’s eyes, nine years old, who had adults take everything innocent and pure from her, you look in those eyes and those eyes have no life in them. Her life will never be the same. That’s what pisses me off, because President Trump had us locked down.
He had us locked down. And this administration came in and unlocked it.
People die on the border every day. Women are sex trafficked in this country every day. That’s why I’m pissed off. And that’s why the best day of my life was President Trump getting re-elected to save lives. A secure border saves lives. It isn’t rocket science.
Trump’s Re-election and Future Plans
We’ll get fired up all over again. Trump! Trump! Trump! That’s right. President Trump’s going to make this country safe again. President Trump’s going to make our border great again. President Trump’s going to decrease illegal migrant crime at unprecedented rates, because out of the gate, day one, we’re going to focus on public safety threats and national security threats. They’re first. They’re coming first.
And Tren de Aragua, your days are numbered. My gang’s bigger than your gang. And we’re going to take you out of the country, and we’re going to deport you out of here. Who do you think you are, coming to the greatest nation on Earth and victimizing Americans in this country? Your days are numbered. You’re number one on the list. MS-13, you’re right behind them.
Addressing Sanctuary Cities
To the sanctuary cities, who want to attack me every day so you can put roadblocks up, you’re not going to assist us. Shame on you. Shame on any elected representative, any council person, any mayor, any governor, who don’t want to remove public safety threats from your community, and they’re here illegally? That is your number one responsibility, is protect your communities. So if you’re not going to do it, President Trump and ICE will.
The mayor of Chicago, not a real bright guy, says Tom Holman isn’t welcome in Chicago. Well, guess where Tom Holman’s going to be day one? Chicago, Illinois. You don’t want me there, come get me.
The people of Chicago have spoken. I went there a few weeks ago. The black community’s upset. The whole community’s upset because violent crime is up, and millions of dollars in public services are being given to people who are not supposed to be here. Meanwhile, the taxpaying community that is in a bad way because of Biden administration’s economic plans, they’re getting robbed every day by giving millions of dollars to people who are not supposed to be here. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be, folks. It’s not okay to be in this country illegally. It’s not okay to enter this country illegally. It is a crime to enter this country illegally.
Addressing Sanctuary Cities (Continued)
Now, let me continue to educate sanctuary cities. You want to not help? Fine. Shame on you. If you don’t want to protect your communities, shame on you. But we’re going to do it for you. You’re not going to stop me. We’re coming. So put up all the roadblocks you want, because we’ll knock them down. And don’t cross that line.
People say, oh, Holman threatens to prosecute everybody in the world. Look, I’m not threatening to prosecute anybody. What I’m saying is, there’s a line. You don’t want to help? That’s fine. But there’s two statutes you need to be familiar with. One’s 8 U.S.C. 1324 III. If you knowingly impede, if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from ICE, that is a felony, and there will be consequences.
Now, let me make it clear. The government says I don’t have the authority to do that. Well, no shit. I’m not a U.S. attorney, but your attorney certainly does, and we’ll ask for prosecution. We will not let you prevent us from saving the American community from illegal alien crime. It’s not going to happen. We’re going. We’re coming.
Enforcement Strategy
So even though I say we’re going to prioritize criminal threats and national security threats out of the gate, that’s a fact. However, when sanctuary cities won’t let us into the jail to arrest a bad guy in the safety and security of that county jail, which means they’re going to release that criminal back into the immigrant community, which puts the immigrant community at risk of crime, it puts our officers at great risk, rather than arresting a guy in the safety and security of a county jail where he don’t have the authority to do that. He don’t have weapons. Now we’ve got to go to the community, find him. We have access to who knows what weapons. You’re putting the community at risk. You’re putting officers at risk. You’re putting the alien at risk.
I’m going to give you exactly what you don’t want. You don’t want us in jail? All right, so I’ll send a whole bunch of agents into your community, and we’ll find the bad guy. And when we find the bad guy, he’s probably going to be with others, others that aren’t a priority apprehension, but guess what? They’re getting arrested too. So you’ll get exactly what you don’t want, more arrests in your community.
I don’t want to do that. I’d much rather be safe with the agents arresting a guy in the county jail, but they don’t let us in? Fine. You’re not going to stop us. We’ll go to the community, and we will find him. You’re not going to stop us, put all the roadblocks you want. It’s not going to work. We’re going to do this. Because American people demand it. You gave President Trump a mandate, and we’re going to make sure that mandate’s held up.
Closing Remarks
President Trump’s backstage. President Trump’s backstage. And let me say, I want to say one thing in closing, and I said it at the RNC and I meant it. The criminal cartels in Mexico have killed more Americans than every terrorist organization in the world combined. Over a quarter million young Americans have died from fentanyl poisonings. President Trump’s going to hold China accountable for creating the precursors he’s selling to the cartels. President Trump’s going to hold Mexico accountable for not doing anything about the criminal cartels. President Trump’s going to designate them terrorist organizations.
And we’re going to wipe them off the face of the earth. Criminal cartels, I’ve got numerous death threats, criminal cartels, you make death threats against me, bring it. Because the greatest country on the face of this earth is going to put you out of business and put you in prison. If Mexico don’t do it, the United States will. President Trump will.
Are you ready to secure the border? Dig it under your feet, are you ready to secure the border? Are you ready for the biggest deportation operation you’ve ever seen? Are you ready for President Trump to walk on this stage? God bless you, God bless America.
