White House border czar Tom Homan erupted at critics of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda Friday, recalling horrific scenes from his decades in border enforcement — including migrants he said were "baked to death" in a tractor-trailer — as he argued that secure borders save lives.Homan used the graphic stories during remarks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., to push back on critics who have accused the Trump administration of being inhumane, arguing instead that tougher border enforcement saves lives by deterring migrants from making dangerous journeys controlled by cartels."I want to talk about why I’m pissed off this morning," Homan told the crowd, arguing that media coverage has falsely portrayed Trump’s immigration policies as cruel or inhumane.BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN SLAMS CATHOLIC CHURCH, SAYS ‘SECURE BORDER SAVES LIVES’White House border czar Tom Homan is seen as he holds a press conference along the border wall between San Diego, Calif., and Tijuana, Mexico, on Dec.13, 2025, to announce increased security along the Southwest border.
(REUTERS/Mike Blake)"There’s nothing further from the truth," Homan said.Rather, the border czar said critics have it backward, arguing that lax border enforcement creates the conditions for migrants to be exploited, assaulted or killed by smugglers and cartels.
"What President Trump is doing is saving lives," Homan told the crowd.He then described one of the most graphic scenes he said he witnessed during his career in border enforcement."I’ve stood in the back of a tractor-trailer with 19 dead people at my feet," Homan told the crowd at the Washington Hilton Friday morning, adding that the victims included a young boy and that they were found in their underwear while trying to escape extreme heat in the back of the truck."They all baked to death," Homan said."I got to that crime scene.
They're all in underwear, trying to get some relief fr...