In Sarasota, border czar Homan says 'we're saving lives' under Trump's immigration policy
By Nancy Guan, Meleah Lyden
March 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM EDT
Tom Homan talked about plans to continue tackling illegal immigration during a sit-down at New College. With him were Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf.
U.S. border czar Tom Homan was in Sarasota on Thursday morning to discuss President Donald Trump's immigration policies at New College of Florida.
Homan appeared alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to give a speech on immigration policy.
The sit-down at the campus' Mildred Sainer Pavilion was moderated by New College president Richard Corcoran. About 200 people attended.
About 200 protesters were outside, but there were no interuptions during the event.
The talk was part of the college's Socratic Stage Dialogue Series. The series aims to advance civil discourse through events that allow open discussion and debate on public policy issues, according to the website.
You can watch the full discussion here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxLw_Amuc20
DeSantis and Homan talked about plans to continue tackling illegal immigration in the state and across the nation.
The discussion opened with the two defending the president, who is embroiled in a legal showdown after he defied a federal judge's orders when he deported hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador.
Trump said the immigrants had ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which sped up the deportation process, but has only been used during war time.
"They're not going to stop us. The district court judge isn't going to stop us from making this country safe again. We're going to keep moving forward," said Homan.
Federal courts serve as a check on executive power.
But DeSantis backed Homan up, saying that "liberal judges" are thwarting executive action, and that the U.S. Supreme Court should take away "political issues" from district courts.
President Trump has called for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg.
Homan pointed out that the number of people entering the country from the border is down 96% since Trump took office in January.
The White House has touted that sharp drop in border encounters before. But Politifact, a fact-checking website operated by the Poynter Institute, reported that claim is misleading.
The drop is closer to 60% when comparing the number of border encounters during the Biden administration's last seven days to Trump's first seven days in office.
In addition, the numbers include encounters at both legal ports of entry and between. Under Biden, people were allowed to make appointments at official ports of entry and be legally allowed to enter the U.S. to claim asylum.
Trump ended that program administered through the CBP One App when he became president, contributing to the drop in encounters.
During the panel, Homan also spoke about the increased effort at interior enforcement — or arrests within the country.
And as of March 9, around 49,419 people were being held in detention centers, the most in five years. Since less encounters are happening at the border, the Trump administration has focused on enforcement within U.S. communities.
"We arrested three times more in one month than what (former President) Joe Biden did in the same months, but that’s not enough," Homan said. "We need to do 10 times more because Biden wasn’t doing squat."
"I'm happy, but I'm not not satisfied."
Homan said a "secure border saves American lives, and saves alien lives. That’s a fact."
"And that’s what President Trump has done. We’re saving lives by the thousands simply because we have a secure border,” Homan said.
He added that they have more work to do.
“We’re not going to rest — I’m not going to sleep well at night — until every public safety threat illegal aliens eradicated from this country. That’s when we’ll relax,” Homan said.
DeSantis said that while the priority is on people with criminal histories, he says law enforcement should go after people who are here illegally — criminal record or not.
"You cannot say that people who are here illegally are scot free up and until the time they actually commit a separate criminal offense. I want to get them out before they commit an offense against someone," said DeSantis.
Paul Chavez, Litigation Director for Americans for Immigration Justice, who spoke after the panel, said he senses a troubling shift when it comes to perceptions of immigrants.
"For a long time, I think there was an understanding that a lot of folks are here for different reasons," said Chavez. "We're moving away from, 'let's figure out a path to citizenship, or let's engage in immigration reform,' to everybody's an enemy of the state."
Chavez pointed out that multiple studies show that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crime than native-born U.S. citizens.
Researchers from Stanford found that immigrants were 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people. And a 2019 study from the CATO Institute that focused on Texas found that undocumented immigrants were 37.1% less likely to be convicted of a crime.
An extensive study of crimes in all 50 states and Washington, DC, from 1990 to 2014, found that undocumented immigration does not increase violent crime.
Untitled
Homan said a majority of people who come to the border do not have a valid asylum claim, and that "they may come here for a better life, but they’re not here escaping persecution."
U.S. immigration law states that anyone who is physically present in the country, who fears persecution based on race, nationality, religion, or membership of a particular social group or political opinion can apply for asylum.
The average denial rate for asylum claims hovered around 64% in 2024, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
But whether someone receives asylum or not depends on various factors, pointed out Chavez. Asylum grants and denials vary between states, even judges. And, it depends on whether the individual is able to receive legal assistance.
Homan said that "millions have cheated the system" under the Biden Administration.
"We need to send a message out into the world that there’s a right way and a wrong way to come into this country," said Homan.
The Border Czar talked about how social services are a "driver of illegal immigration."
DeSantis added immigrants in the country without legal status are putting a stress on social services, saying Florida has spent around $600 million in hospital emergency rooms "for people here illegally."
The Florida Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, had pushed back on the findings when the state published the report last year. In their report, the FPI said the cost for uncompensated care is estimated to be about $23 million — that's the estimate when taking into account revenue, which includes insurance, self-pay and federal reimbursements.
Since Trump took office, Florida has been in lockstep with the administration's hardline immigration policies.
The state tops the nation when it comes to the number of local law enforcement agencies that help federal immigration agents detain people.
DeSantis said that Congress "really needs to be way, way more aggressive than what they’ve been so far.”
“What will happen is you will absolutely see all that go up in smoke if a new president comes in in ’29 that doesn’t agree with these policies – it will happen like that," DeSantis added, snapping his fingers.
He also described capitalizing on Trump’s executive orders.
“ICE does not have enough personnel," DeSantis said. "Border patrol does not have enough personnel and resources to do what needs to be done. So if we just say it’s their responsibility, we’re just not going to get the job done. Like you have to supplement with state and local.”
DeSantis, who noted that Florida is the only state to call a special session to combat illegal immigration, spoke out against sanctuary cities.
"We have a program that deputizes. ... All jurisdictions in Florida have 287(g) agreements," DeSantis said. "These are not all Republican sheriffs, but we’ve imposed a legal duty on them.
"It’s not a policy question anymore whether or not they should be involved in it, and it will happen one way or another, and we will get that done."
People gathered outside the New College of Florida on March 20, 2025, to protest as border czar Tom Homan and Gov. DeSantis came to have a conversation about immigration policy. (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Wolf said the cooperation that DeSantis mentioned is "absolutely critical."
"There’s a different mindset that you see here in Florida," Wolf said. "That’s what real cooperation looks like, when the state and federal cooperate."
On the question of whether states think the rule of law doesn't apply to them, Homan said the administration is lucky to "have (Attorney General) Pam Bondi, who will sue them."
Homan appeared alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to give a speech on immigration policy.
The sit-down at the campus' Mildred Sainer Pavilion was moderated by New College president Richard Corcoran. About 200 people attended.
About 200 protesters were outside, but there were no interuptions during the event.
The talk was part of the college's Socratic Stage Dialogue Series. The series aims to advance civil discourse through events that allow open discussion and debate on public policy issues, according to the website.
You can watch the full discussion here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxLw_Amuc20
DeSantis and Homan talked about plans to continue tackling illegal immigration in the state and across the nation.
The discussion opened with the two defending the president, who is embroiled in a legal showdown after he defied a federal judge's orders when he deported hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador.
Trump said the immigrants had ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which sped up the deportation process, but has only been used during war time.
"They're not going to stop us. The district court judge isn't going to stop us from making this country safe again. We're going to keep moving forward," said Homan.
Federal courts serve as a check on executive power.
But DeSantis backed Homan up, saying that "liberal judges" are thwarting executive action, and that the U.S. Supreme Court should take away "political issues" from district courts.
President Trump has called for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg.
Homan pointed out that the number of people entering the country from the border is down 96% since Trump took office in January.
The White House has touted that sharp drop in border encounters before. But Politifact, a fact-checking website operated by the Poynter Institute, reported that claim is misleading.
The drop is closer to 60% when comparing the number of border encounters during the Biden administration's last seven days to Trump's first seven days in office.
In addition, the numbers include encounters at both legal ports of entry and between. Under Biden, people were allowed to make appointments at official ports of entry and be legally allowed to enter the U.S. to claim asylum.
Trump ended that program administered through the CBP One App when he became president, contributing to the drop in encounters.
During the panel, Homan also spoke about the increased effort at interior enforcement — or arrests within the country.
And as of March 9, around 49,419 people were being held in detention centers, the most in five years. Since less encounters are happening at the border, the Trump administration has focused on enforcement within U.S. communities.
"We arrested three times more in one month than what (former President) Joe Biden did in the same months, but that’s not enough," Homan said. "We need to do 10 times more because Biden wasn’t doing squat."
"I'm happy, but I'm not not satisfied."
Homan said a "secure border saves American lives, and saves alien lives. That’s a fact."
"And that’s what President Trump has done. We’re saving lives by the thousands simply because we have a secure border,” Homan said.
He added that they have more work to do.
“We’re not going to rest — I’m not going to sleep well at night — until every public safety threat illegal aliens eradicated from this country. That’s when we’ll relax,” Homan said.
DeSantis said that while the priority is on people with criminal histories, he says law enforcement should go after people who are here illegally — criminal record or not.
"You cannot say that people who are here illegally are scot free up and until the time they actually commit a separate criminal offense. I want to get them out before they commit an offense against someone," said DeSantis.
Paul Chavez, Litigation Director for Americans for Immigration Justice, who spoke after the panel, said he senses a troubling shift when it comes to perceptions of immigrants.
"For a long time, I think there was an understanding that a lot of folks are here for different reasons," said Chavez. "We're moving away from, 'let's figure out a path to citizenship, or let's engage in immigration reform,' to everybody's an enemy of the state."
Chavez pointed out that multiple studies show that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crime than native-born U.S. citizens.
Researchers from Stanford found that immigrants were 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people. And a 2019 study from the CATO Institute that focused on Texas found that undocumented immigrants were 37.1% less likely to be convicted of a crime.
An extensive study of crimes in all 50 states and Washington, DC, from 1990 to 2014, found that undocumented immigration does not increase violent crime.
Untitled
Homan said a majority of people who come to the border do not have a valid asylum claim, and that "they may come here for a better life, but they’re not here escaping persecution."
U.S. immigration law states that anyone who is physically present in the country, who fears persecution based on race, nationality, religion, or membership of a particular social group or political opinion can apply for asylum.
The average denial rate for asylum claims hovered around 64% in 2024, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
But whether someone receives asylum or not depends on various factors, pointed out Chavez. Asylum grants and denials vary between states, even judges. And, it depends on whether the individual is able to receive legal assistance.
Homan said that "millions have cheated the system" under the Biden Administration.
"We need to send a message out into the world that there’s a right way and a wrong way to come into this country," said Homan.
The Border Czar talked about how social services are a "driver of illegal immigration."
DeSantis added immigrants in the country without legal status are putting a stress on social services, saying Florida has spent around $600 million in hospital emergency rooms "for people here illegally."
The Florida Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, had pushed back on the findings when the state published the report last year. In their report, the FPI said the cost for uncompensated care is estimated to be about $23 million — that's the estimate when taking into account revenue, which includes insurance, self-pay and federal reimbursements.
Since Trump took office, Florida has been in lockstep with the administration's hardline immigration policies.
The state tops the nation when it comes to the number of local law enforcement agencies that help federal immigration agents detain people.
DeSantis said that Congress "really needs to be way, way more aggressive than what they’ve been so far.”
“What will happen is you will absolutely see all that go up in smoke if a new president comes in in ’29 that doesn’t agree with these policies – it will happen like that," DeSantis added, snapping his fingers.
He also described capitalizing on Trump’s executive orders.
“ICE does not have enough personnel," DeSantis said. "Border patrol does not have enough personnel and resources to do what needs to be done. So if we just say it’s their responsibility, we’re just not going to get the job done. Like you have to supplement with state and local.”
DeSantis, who noted that Florida is the only state to call a special session to combat illegal immigration, spoke out against sanctuary cities.
"We have a program that deputizes. ... All jurisdictions in Florida have 287(g) agreements," DeSantis said. "These are not all Republican sheriffs, but we’ve imposed a legal duty on them.
"It’s not a policy question anymore whether or not they should be involved in it, and it will happen one way or another, and we will get that done."
People gathered outside the New College of Florida on March 20, 2025, to protest as border czar Tom Homan and Gov. DeSantis came to have a conversation about immigration policy. (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Wolf said the cooperation that DeSantis mentioned is "absolutely critical."
"There’s a different mindset that you see here in Florida," Wolf said. "That’s what real cooperation looks like, when the state and federal cooperate."
On the question of whether states think the rule of law doesn't apply to them, Homan said the administration is lucky to "have (Attorney General) Pam Bondi, who will sue them."