Trump’s Border Chief Vows to Prosecute New Jersey Governor for ‘Hiding Illegal Immigrant’
Tom Homan, who worked as former President Donald Trump’s border chief, said on Fox News Monday night that he would strongly push to charge New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) if it turned out that Murphy was actually hiding an undocumented immigrant in his home.
Over the weekend, Murphy raised eyebrows when he said that someone he knew was struggling with immigration issues, so he decided to let her stay in his home above his garage.
“And good luck to the federal agents trying to take her,” Murphy added while speaking at Montclair State University. However, on Monday, Murphy’s office took back the comment, telling the New York Post that his words were misunderstood and that no one was actually living above his garage.
During an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, Homan was asked about recent immigration issues. Hannity mentioned that Chicago leaders were telling people to resist Trump’s deportation policies, that Governor Murphy seemed to admit he was hiding someone without legal documents, and that Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina wanted to allow people to sue cities and states that protect undocumented immigrants.
Homan responded by saying, “I think the governor said something really foolish. We won’t ignore it—we’ll investigate.”
He continued, “If someone knowingly hides an undocumented immigrant, that’s against U.S. law, specifically Title 8, Section 1324. I will push for charges, or the Secretary will.”
Homan added that Murphy could have been bluffing, but if not, they would take action. He also said the Trump administration was already working against sanctuary cities, which he described as safe havens for criminals.
He gave an example: “If New York City had handed over the man who killed Laken Riley when he was arrested earlier for endangering a child, he would have been in jail, and she would still be alive. Sanctuary cities are responsible for the deaths of thousands of young children over my career.”
Homan then said, “We have a Supreme Court now. President Trump wants to end sanctuary cities, and he will.”
Hannity then brought up a 2011 government report that found undocumented immigrants had committed three million crimes before the Biden administration took over and made border policies weaker. He also asked if there were estimates on how many Americans had been victims of violent crime by undocumented immigrants.
Homan replied that there were no clear numbers because many sanctuary cities do not track whether prisoners are undocumented or not.
“They don’t ask about their country of origin or immigration status because they don’t want ICE to find out. So, even though we know sanctuary cities protect criminals, there are many cases we don’t know about because they refuse to gather information.”
Homan finished by saying, “Again, sanctuary cities protect criminals. That’s the bottom line. The Trump administration will take legal action against them because we need that information.”
