LIVE: White House Holds Briefing on Securing the US Border

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The White House holds a press briefing on securing the U.S. border with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Border Czar Tom Homan at 8:30 a.m. ET on April 28.
President Trump has already delivered on hundreds of promises he made to the American people,
and we will continue to talk about all of them throughout this week.
Tomorrow, I will host a press briefing at this same time, bright and early again, to
highlight the Trump administration's economic accomplishments with our Treasury Secretary,
Scott Besant.
And tomorrow night, President Trump will travel to Michigan to discuss all that he has achieved
on behalf of the American people.
On Wednesday, the President will host an open press Cabinet meeting, where each Cabinet
member will discuss their success thus far and their plans for the future.
Today, we kick off 100-day week with a focus on the President's historic effort to secure
our southern border.
Later this afternoon, President Trump will sign an executive order on law and order and
another executive order on sanctuary cities.
The first EO will strengthen and unleash America's law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect
innocent citizens.
The second EO is centered around protecting American communities from criminal aliens,
and it will direct the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to publish
a list of state and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration
laws.
After these are signed, the President will have signed more than 140 executive orders
already, rapidly approaching the total number signed by the Biden administration over the
course of four years in office.
Speaking of Joe Biden, it was his awful open border policies that recklessly allowed more
than 10 million illegal aliens to invade the United States over the past four years.
Innocent Americans like Lakin Riley, Jocelyn Ungray, Rachel Morin, and so many others were
viciously murdered at the hands of these illegal aliens as a result of Biden's dereliction
of duty.
That's why one of President Trump's central campaign promises was to secure the border
and end this invasion.
In just under 100 days, 99 now to be exact, the President has overwhelmingly delivered
on that promise.
America's borders are now secure because of President Trump.
He has restored the rule of law, enforced our immigration laws, and defended America's
sovereignty.
The President immediately declared a national emergency on the southern border, deployed
the U.S. military and border patrol to repel the invasion, and ended reckless catch and
release policies.
The results have been nothing short of extraordinary.
Between President Trump's inauguration in April 1 of this month, only nine illegal aliens
were released into the United States, a staggering 99.99% decrease from the more than 184,000
illegal aliens who were released into the country under Biden during the same period
last year.
The number of unaccompanied illegal alien children arriving at the border has also hit
a record low.
Total attempted illegal crossings at the southwest border hit a record low in February, only
to fall to another new record low again last month in March.
Just listen to these incredible numbers.
In March 2024, under Joe Biden, border patrol encountered approximately 140,000 illegal
aliens at the southwest border.
One year later, in March 2025, under President Trump, border patrol encountered just over
7,000 illegal aliens at the southwest border.
That's another 95% decrease from the prior year.
The first piece of legislation President Trump signed into law was the Lake and Riley Act,
which requires illegal aliens arrested or charged with theft or violence to be detained.
President Trump also re-established the successful Remain in Mexico policy from his first term
to ensure that aliens who arrive at our southern border and claim asylum are returned to Mexico
to await their hearings instead of being allowed into our country while they wait.
The president has also restarted construction of his signature advanced border wall.
More than 85 miles of new border barrier are already in various stages of construction
and planning.
And border patrol, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and the great state
of Texas, have deployed 75 additional miles of temporary barriers across the southern
border.
The Trump administration, as you know, has also ended the disastrous CBP One app, which
Joe Biden exploited to facilitate the migration of nearly one million illegal aliens into
the country.
The Department of Homeland Security has relaunched this as the CBP Home app to provide illegal
aliens in the U.S. a straightforward way to declare their intent to voluntarily depart.
For years, Joe Biden's weakness in open border policies allowed vicious cartels to
functionally control, through a campaign of terror, rape, and brutal force, nearly all
illegal traffic across the southern border.
President Trump has put a stop to this in record time.
He designated these heinous cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and invoked the Alien
Enemies Act to immediately apprehend, detain, and remove these massive threats who have
flooded our country with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs.
The Trump administration is working 24-7 to successfully arrest and deport these illegal
criminals and foreign terrorists from our communities.
We are in the beginning stages of carrying out the largest deportation campaign in American
history.
Over this past weekend, it was announced that through Operation Tidal Wave, a joint effort
between ICE Miami and Florida law enforcement agencies, nearly 800 illegal aliens were arrested
during the first four days alone.
Among those arrested were a Colombian murderer, alleged MS-13 and 18th Street gang members,
and a Russian with a red notice for manslaughter.
And on the other side of the country, in the early Sunday morning hours, DOJ and DHS together
launched a joint raid of an illegal alien underground nightclub used by Tren de Aragua
in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
DHS took more than 100 illegal aliens into custody, and many drugs and weapons were also
seized.
Operation Tidal Wave is a preview of what is to come around this country, large-scale
operations that employ our state and local enforcement partners to get criminal, illegal
aliens off our streets.
As always, President Trump and our entire administration are grateful for the courageous
law enforcement officers who are putting their lives on the line every single day to protect
their fellow Americans and to keep our country safe.
After four years of being vilified and hamstrung by the Biden administration, heroic ICE and
CBP officers finally have a president who has their backs and is allowing them to do
the jobs they signed up to do.
There's no person who can attest to that more than our incredible boarders are here at the
White House, Tom Homan, who has dedicated his professional career to protecting our
country and enforcing the law.
I will let Tom deliver some short remarks, and then we'll open it up for questions today.
Thanks for being here, Tom.
Thank you.
Just a few things.
Look, I started in the border patrol in 1984.
I've been at this for over 40 years.
I've worked for six presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan.
Every president I ever worked for took border security seriously, because you can't have
national security if you don't have strong border security.
We got to know who's coming in, what's coming in, where it's coming in, why it's coming
in, right?
Even President Obama and President Clinton took some steps to secure the border, because
they understood national security was important.
Joe Biden was the first president in the history of this nation who came into office and unsecured
a border on purpose.
That's just a fact.
We handed the Biden administration, after President Trump's first administration, we
handed the Biden administration the most secure border in my lifetime, and he unsecured it
on purpose.
Now President Trump and this administration here, their success is unprecedented.
We beat Trump's first administration on border success.
Border numbers are historic low.
Today, as I'm standing here, we have the most secure border in the history of this nation,
and the numbers prove it.
President Trump's policies are saving lives every day.
There's been studies done that says 31% of women that make that journey through use of
cartels get sexually assaulted.
When President Trump has illegal immigration down 96%, when 96% less people are coming,
how many women aren't being sexually assaulted by the cartels?
How many children aren't dying making that journey?
How many women and children aren't being sex trafficked into this nation?
How many known suspected terrorists aren't making it into this country?
How many pounds of fentanyl isn't getting into this country to kill young Americans?
How many women and children aren't sex trafficked?
Under Joe Biden, sex trafficking is up 600%.
We had 4,000 aliens dying making that journey.
We had a quarter million Americans dead from fentanyl that came across the open border.
President Trump's policy saves lives every day.
Even the border wall saves lives.
The people want to hate on the border wall.
Every place a border barrier has been built, illegal migrations decline,
illegal drug flows decline.
What you know no one talks about, the border wall saves lives.
Because the most vulnerable, the women and children, can't get over that wall.
Which means they're going to a place where there's not a wall.
And what's waiting on them?
The men and women of the United States Border Patrol who will take care of those
humanitarian needs, the health needs are off the bat.
We just rolled the numbers.
Let me talk about a few numbers that are important to me.
Under Biden administration, we averaged over 11,000 many days, over 12,000.
Some days, 15,000 illegal entrance to the United States.
15,000, you know what the number was the last 24 hours?
178, 15,000 to 178, unprecedented success.
On average day in the Biden administration, no one got away.
People we knew crossed the border because they're on video, drone traffic, or
sensor traffic.
Crossed the border, weren't apprehended, weren't fingerprinted, weren't vetted.
Average day under Joe Biden, more than 1,800 got aways.
Yesterday, 38, 38 too many, we'll get that to zero.
But we went from 1,800 to 38.
And finally, that was said earlier, on the first 100 days,
it was actually January 20th to April 1st.
Last year, 184,000 illegal aliens were released into the United States.
Under this administration, nine.
Four of them were material witnesses in a criminal investigation.
We need them here to testify in a serious criminal trial.
Four were extreme medical conditions.
We couldn't return them because they were in such bad shape.
And one was a humanitarian issue.
This is unprecedented success.
The border's secure.
President Trump's saving lives.
President Trump has proven no one does it better than President Trump.
There is no equal, there's not even close.
So God bless the men and women of the Border Patrol.
God bless the men and women of ICE, who strap a gun to the hip every day,
put on a Kevlar vest, to not only secure our border and protect our national
security, but the ICE agents in the interior.
They're removing public safety threats and national security threats every day.
While you're all sleeping at 2, 3 o'clock in the morning, there are men and
women out there enforcing law and making this country safe again.
And we're gonna keep doing it, full speed ahead.
So I'll leave it at that.
Awesome.
Thank you, Tom, and thanks for all your great efforts.
We do wanna open it up to questions, if you have border-related questions for
Mr. Homan, and I'm also happy to take any non-border-related questions.
I'm happy to take border questions, too, but Tom is here offering his time, so
we encourage you to ask him questions.
We'll start with our new media seat today.
As always, Rogan O'Hanley, former Hollywood entertainment lawyer,
I didn't know that, Rogan, who got fed up with the far-left ideologies of
California and now posts conservative political commentary online for
his more than 7 million followers across all major platforms.
He joins us today from the great state of Florida.
Why don't you kick us off today, Rogan?
Thank you, Caroline.
In Trump's first 99 days,
we've seen a coordinated assault on the rule of law by radical judges.
We're thwarting his agenda with an unprecedented number of
national injunctions.
These judges are providing more due process to violent MS-13 and
illegal aliens than they did for
American citizens who peacefully protested on January 6th.
As Stephen Miller has highlighted, it would be utterly ridiculous to have full
trials and appeals for the more than 15 million illegal aliens that came
across our border under Joe Biden.
Many are now calling for Trump to circumvent these radical judges and
consider suspending the writ of habeas corpus solely for
these illegal aliens in accordance with the terms of Article I,
Section 9 of the United States Constitution,
which explicitly allows for such a measure when there is a rebellion or invasion.
There's strong precedent for this action,
being that it was exercised by three of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln,
Ulysses S. Grant, and Democrats' favorite president of all time, FDR.
All three of which are not only celebrated by historians, but
are immortalized on our national currency with their faces on there.
Furthermore, all three used it against American citizens,
where in this instance, we would only be using it against illegal aliens.
I think almost every reasonable American would agree that 15 million illegal
aliens coming across our border under Joe Biden counts as an invasion,
especially since many, as you highlighted, are now robbing, assaulting,
raping, and killing American citizens.
Historic assaults on our republic require reciprocal action from our government.
Can you please let us know if and when the Trump administration is planning to
suspend the writ of habeas corpus to circumvent these radical judges who
are infringing on his Article II powers and to start shipping out illegals en masse?
I have not heard such discussions take place, but I can assure you that
the president and the entire administration are certainly open to all legal and
constitutional remedies to ensure we can continue with
the promise of deporting illegal criminals from our nation's borders.
And I also agree with the premise of your question,
which doesn't happen in this room often, but I do agree with yours.
It is absurd that the previous administration was allowed to allow 15 million that we know
about illegal aliens into this country with very little pushback from our judicial branch.
But this president is trying to simply enforce our nation's immigration laws and
is facing roadblock after roadblock.
So we're complying with court orders, but as Tom Homan has said every day,
we're going to continue to forge ahead with this mass deportation campaign and
the president is open to all remedies.
Thanks for being here today, Rogan.
If I can also answer your question.
As far as the judges, look, we just arrested a judge,
Pam Bondi, for impeding ICE enforcement.
I said from day one, you don't have to support ICE's operations.
You can support sanctuary cities if that's what you desire to do.
Sanctuary cities can stand aside and watch ICE keep their communities safe
because any public official, whether you're mayor, city councilman, or governor,
their number one responsibility is protection of communities.
And ICE has been clear, we're targeting public safety threats and national security threats.
I can't believe there's any elected official, and especially a judge,
that doesn't believe we should be doing that and they should be helping us.
But ICE said from day one, you can sit aside and watch,
you can argue against us all you want and protest all you want.
But when you cross that line, I've said this a thousand times,
when you cross that line to impediment or knowingly harboring and concealing
an illegal alien from ICE, you will be prosecuted, judge or not.
And as far as releasing so many people, you know why the Biden administration released
millions of people in the United States?
No one ever talks about it, I'll talk about it.
Why did they release people into the interior of the United States
rather than put them into an ICE bed?
Why not put them in an empty ICE bed at $127 a night,
rather than a hotel room at 500 bucks a night?
They did it on purpose.
Because when you put them in an ICE detention bed, they get a hearing in 35 days.
Court records show 9 out of 10 people who claim asylum get order removal, they're gone.
But if you release them and put them in a hotel room at 500 bucks a night,
their hearings can be five, seven, nine years where you pull out all appeals.
And what are they hoping for then?
That another Democrat administration is in power.
They can warrant amnesty to millions.
This is about selling this country off for future political power.
That's what it was.
The law clearly says, if you arrive at our border without proper documentation,
you shall be detained.
Not maybe, not think about it, shall.
And that's what President Trump's doing.
Catch and release is over.
That's what the law says, and that's what we've done.
Harry, go ahead.
A question on Abrego Garcia, if I can.
The president recently said when it comes to facilitating his release,
he's leaving that up to his lawyers.
So just to be clear, have there been any negotiations
between the US and El Salvador over his release or facilitating his release?
I will tell you what the president of El Salvador told all of you in the Oval Office.
El Salvador does not intend to smuggle a designated foreign terrorist
back into the United States.
He is an El Salvadorian national.
That is his home country.
That is where he belongs.
And the administration intends to comply with what President Bukele said of El Salvador.
He does not intend to send that individual back.
So that's a no.
There's been no talks.
What I have told you is that the president of El Salvador has made this quite clear.
Kate?
Caroline, can you tell us more about the meeting between President Trump
and President Zelensky over the weekend?
Did that meeting change anything?
Did Trump leave that meeting thinking any differently about
negotiations and next steps on this?
Look, the president talked about this after the meeting himself yesterday,
when he took questions from reporters on Air Force One.
He thinks that he is increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries.
He wants to see a permanent ceasefire.
I understand Vladimir Putin this morning offered a temporary ceasefire.
The president has made it clear he wants to see a permanent ceasefire.
First, to stop the killing, stop the bloodshed.
And while he remains optimistic he can strike a deal, he's also being realistic as well.
And both leaders need to come to the table to negotiate their way out of this.
And I do think that the president meeting with President Zelensky shows that
he is exuding a lot of effort and time into this
because he wants to be a peacemaker president, which he was in his first term.
He intends to do that again.
And this is an incredibly difficult situation and conflict that President Trump inherited
from President Biden, who allowed this war to start in the first place.
But he's focused on solving this problem.
Does anyone have border questions?
Sure.
Thank you, Caroline.
If border crossings are at a record low, why should it still be considered an emergency?
It's because of what has happened in the last administration.
We got to ensure that not one ounce of fentanyl comes across the corridor to kill Americans.
The president has declared the cartels Mexican terrorist organization, along with MS-13 TDA,
they killed more Americans than every terrorist organization in the world combined.
It's an emergency, we shut it down.
It's an emergency so the cartels are wiped off the face of this earth.
President Trump's committed to saving every life.
Now I just mentioned, gotaways 38 yesterday.
Who are the gotaways?
Where do they come from?
We had over 2 million gotaways under Joe Biden's administration.
Why did 2 million people pay more to get away?
Under the Biden administration, you pay a cartel this amount of money to cross the border.
Cartel's job ends at the border.
Just turn yourself in a green uniform.
Get released in 24 hours.
Get a free airline ticket to the city of your choice.
Get a free hotel room.
Get three meals a day.
Get free medical care.
Get work authorization in 90, 120 days, which is the real reason they came here.
Why did 2 million people pay more to get away?
Because they didn't want to be vetted.
They didn't want to be fingerprinted.
We've arrested over 400 people on the terrorist watchlist coming across the southern border in
four years.
How many of the 2 million came from countries sponsoring terrorism?
You think it's zero?
Then you're ignorant.
This is the biggest national security failure this country's ever seen.
This is a border emergency until we end it.
End all of it.
We're making good strides.
Right now, it's still an emergency until we shut it down.
Go ahead.
This is a question for Mr. Homan.
Late last week, there were three U.S. citizen children who were removed with
their mothers who were in the United States illegally.
There have been a federal judge in Louisiana who was appointed by
President Trump said that he was concerned that there was, quote, no meaningful process.
Are you concerned that due process, at least for the U.S. citizen children,
is being flouted and that the speed at which the enforcement is being done could lead to
errors as was the case in the Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia case?
And then also, if you could give an update on the deportation numbers under this
administration and whether you're pleased with them.
I don't accept the term error in Abrego-Garcia.
There was an oversight.
If there was, there was a withholding order.
But things have changed.
The facts around the withholding order has changed.
Because now we're terrorists.
We're using withholding orders side to side.
And the gang you was fearing from being removed out of South Florida no longer exists.
So the facts around that case are totally different.
I'll let the lawyers litigate that.
But as far as the U.S. three U.S.C. kids, I'd say from day one that if you enter this
country illegally, it's a crime.
If you remain in this country illegally and you ignore a judge's order about deporting,
if you choose to have a U.S. citizen child knowing you're in this country illegally,
you put yourself in that position.
You put your family in that position.
What we did is remove children with their mothers who requested their children depart
with them.
This was a parental decision.
Parental one, parenting one on one.
The mothers made that choice.
And I tell you what, if we didn't do it, the story today would be Trump administration
separating families again.
No, we're keeping families together.
So when a parent says, I want that, I want my two year old baby to go with me.
We made that happen.
They weren't deported.
We don't deport U.S. citizens.
The parents made that decision, not the United States government.
But I don't hear any questions about Lake and Riley had a mother.
She never was.
She's never going to see her child again.
Rachel Morin.
She had five children.
Those children are going to see their mom again.
This administration doing the right thing.
Every public safety threat we arrest in this country and move them.
This country is much safer.
So parents will make a decision what happens to their child.
Having a U.S. citizen child does not make you immune from our laws.
If that's the message we send the entire world, enter the country legally.
It's a crime.
Don't worry about it.
Get order removed by an immigration judge.
Don't worry about it.
No one's looking for you.
And have a U.S. citizen child and you're immune from our laws.
You're never going to fix the border.
People will keep putting themselves in harm's way.
More women will die.
More children will die crossing this border.
We got to secure a border by enforcing our laws.
We're not making this up.
We're enforcing laws under statute, enacted by Congress.
And it's the right thing to do.
Can you give an update on the deportation numbers under this administration?
What are you asking for?
We just provided the number of deportations that have occurred under this administration,
whether you're pleased with that.
Last number I got was 139,000 deportations.
Am I happy with the number?
Numbers are good.
Especially if you look at the ICE numbers.
The ICE arrest removals are far beyond abiding.
I read the media, the deportations are behind Biden administration.
Why?
Because they counted border removals.
We don't have 10.5 million people crossing the border.
We don't have border removals.
So Joe Biden could have deported 5% of his encounters,
and numbers will still be higher than us on the border removals,
because we have a secure border.
The most secure border in the history of this nation.
Compare apples to apples,
ICE arrest and deportations are far more than Joe Biden.
That's right.
Sure, go ahead.
Mr. Holman, talking about the border wall,
can you give us an update as far as how many miles are being built today?
And is Mexico paying for it as the president said they were going to?
Well, first of all, I'll answer that question,
because I already answered it in my opening remarks.
To date, since January 1st, there's been more than 85 miles of new border wall construction
in various stages of that construction and planning.
The president has made it clear to Congress that we want to see
more funding for not just border wall construction,
but also to support our ICE agents and our Border Patrol agents
who are on the ground facilitating with this mass deportation effort.
So he's clear that Mexico is not going to pay for it?
Is that what you're saying?
Let me address that.
Trump said Mexico won't pay for the wall.
They have in a roundabout way, have they not?
Putting 10,000 military on the northern-southern border,
taking the action they did remain in Mexico.
They didn't have to do that.
They're doing it.
Putting military on the southern border.
Have moved illegal immigration to a record low.
We're saving millions of dollars every day
on detention, transportation, removal proceedings.
We've more than made up for the cost of that wall,
because of the actions of Mexico.
So is Mexico helping build that wall?
Yeah, because we're saving so much money,
millions of dollars a day, that we can afford to build that wall.
So actually, yes, they're helping to build the wall.
Thanks a lot, Caroline.
Mr. Holman, a question for you.
Can you give an estimate as to how many individuals
are in the United States illegally?
That's number one, and I'm sure you're very familiar
with that number and estimate.
And the second question is, I have a list
that the White House put out of individuals,
100 ICE arrests since the beginning
of the president's term, and the people are arrested
for various, very serious crimes.
A first-degree murder, convicted of rape,
convicted of murder and aggravated burglary,
sexual assault of a child.
How many of the individuals that are in the United States
illegally are people like this, really bad people?
Well, first of all, how many illegal aliens
I think are in the United States?
At least 20 million.
Here's a word to count that number.
We've been speaking about 12 million for 20 years.
We know we got 10.5 that we know of came to the border.
How many don't we know?
I talk about known guideways at two million.
How many unknown guideways do we have?
Like between the Big Bend sector in Texas
where there's no technology, how many?
Thousand people dig across there.
We wouldn't know.
We wouldn't know now, but you know,
so I would venture over 20 million.
But your question is, last count,
we got, last I looked, there was about 700,000
illegal aliens with criminal charges
walking the streets of this country.
700,000, and that's what we're looking for now.
That's what we're prioritizing.
Them and national security threats.
We'll go to the back row.
Thanks, Caroline.
For Mr. Holman, I'm Taylor with Spectrum News.
We have a station up in Rochester, New York.
It was reported you're visiting there tomorrow.
Can you talk a bit about the purpose of your trip?
I know the Trump administration is suing the city
over its sanctuary city policies,
how the executive order Caroline alluded to ties into it
and what your message is for communities
and community leaders who say,
we're able to establish our own rules here.
We're worried about this input from the federal level.
Can you talk a bit about that?
Well, same thing I talked about earlier.
I don't think any elected mayor,
any elected governor should want public safety threats,
those illegal in the United States,
public safety threats walking through the community.
And what happened in Rochester,
HSI agent called for emergency assistance.
Officers of Rochester PD responded to a call
from emergency assistance from a federal law enforcement,
from a federal law enforcement officer.
They responded.
Then they got disappointed.
I don't think anybody can come up with one instance
where an ICE agent, a Border Patrol agent
didn't respond to emergency call from assistance
from any law enforcement agency.
Cops need to help cops,
especially in emergency situation,
but they got disciplined.
And I met those officers down in Nashville
soon after that, I think it was a couple of days after it.
And I told them I stand with them.
They did the right thing.
Law enforcement responding to emergency assistance
from law enforcement.
So I'm going up there to support
the men and women law enforcement,
the men and women who carry that badge and gun every day.
They're working the streets at 2 a.m.
while we're all sleeping.
I'm going to give my support
and they just announced a lawsuit.
And that's one of many.
Sanctuary City is going to be sued
on this administration for flouting immigration law.
I mean, the law is clear and they're violating it.
And this administration will take actions.
I'm going up there to show my support
and men and women law enforcement.
I started as a cop in the community.
I'm showing support for them
because the community wants
your police officers to be officers too.
The communities don't want public safety threats
walking around their communities either.
And that's what it's all about.
And that's why I'm going.
Mr. Holman, how close are you to housing migrants
at U.S. DOD facilities like Fort Bliss in Texas?
Well, we're already housing at Guantanamo.
Fort Bliss is being ramped up.
So in the very near future,
I don't have a timetable
because things need to be done.
Construction needs to be done.
We'll make sure the facilities are ready to accept.
We're making sure the facilities
are able to care for the people
that are going to be detained.
So I don't know the timeline right now.
It changes every day because of various issues,
but we're working on it.
Are you intending to hold families there,
including families with American citizen children?
Family residential centers are for families.
They're not jails or open-air campers,
built for families,
which means they have child psychologists,
they have pediatricians.
And why family residential centers?
Because we want to make sure
that child is with a parent.
Unlike the last administration
who stopped DNA testing,
who many investigations of children
being smuggled into the country
with something that wasn't related to them
claiming to be a parent.
So we want to make sure
children are with parents.
We're going to make sure
that's actually a family
and that child ain't being trafficked.
That's the main reason.
Regarding the executive order
on sanctuary cities,
is the administration planning
to pursue any more investigations
or prosecutions like was done
against the judge in Wisconsin
against local officials?
Well, we'd have to defer you
to the Department of Justice,
obviously, for specific prosecutions
or cases against individuals.
But as I said in my remarks,
the executive order
the president will sign
later this afternoon
does direct the attorney general
and also Kristi Noem,
our great secretary of Homeland Security
to provide a list of sanctuary cities
in which local officials
are not complying with this federal order
and are not complying
with federal immigration laws.
It's quite simple.
Obey the law, respect the law,
and don't obstruct
federal immigration officials
and law enforcement officials
when they are simply trying
to remove public safety threats
from our nation's communities.
The American public
don't want illegal alien
criminals in their communities.
They made that quite clear
on November 5th.
And this administration is determined
to enforce our nation's immigration laws.
And we're happy to provide
the text of that executive order.
And as I said,
the president will be signing
it later this afternoon.
Sure.
Excuse me.
I want to talk about farmworkers.
The president said earlier this month
that there could be leniency
for some undocumented farmworkers.
I'm wondering where do
things stand with that?
And I'm also wondering,
does that at all undermine
his message on immigration,
that it's OK for some undocumented
people to be in the U.S.,
but maybe not others?
The president was referring
to our H-1B and H-1A visa programs,
and there have been no final
decisions on that at all.
But the president, I think,
what he was intended to speak about,
what he was speaking about,
is ensuring that we have
a clean, legal immigration system
that is being respected and obeyed.
And the mass amount
of illegal immigration
that we've seen over
the past four years
in our country completely
undermines our legal
immigration system.
Those seeking citizenship,
but also those coming here
on a visa to legally
and lawfully work.
And the president wants to make sure
that those programs are respected.
Reagan.
Thanks, Caroline.
My question is for Tom.
Tom, Reagan Rees with The Daily Caller.
Over the weekend,
ICE arrested two illegal immigrants
for allegedly stealing
Secretary Noem's purse
over the weekend.
What can you tell us
about these individuals'
immigration history,
as well as their criminal history?
I don't have their criminal history,
but I know the one that stole the purse
is supposedly in the country illegally.
But pick the wrong person,
steal first from.
I mean, Secretary Noem's
a strong, strong secretary.
I know I've been talking
about the success of the men and women
of the Border Patrol and ICE,
but under her strong leadership,
she's a game changer.
So I'm happy to work with her.
Despite the media,
I've read that me and Christine Noem
have differences.
Me and Christine Noem
are attached to the hip.
There's no daylight between us.
We're both going to
push the president's agenda.
She's a strong secretary,
and I'm glad she's in here.
And I'm glad,
well, again, that Ailey Whalen
picked the wrong,
picked the wrong person,
steal first from.
Mary Margaret, go ahead.
Thank you, Caroline.
I have two questions,
one for Mr. Homan,
one for you on the White House
Correspondence Center.
I'd like to start with you, though, Tom Homan.
This list has a very high number
of sexual assaults on a child.
Can you comment on that
and why there's so many crimes
against children
committed by illegals
in this country?
I don't know why.
It's sick.
It's the worst crime in the world
when you sexually assault a child.
I mean, the most innocent of us all.
But that's why I made a statement
that one time I was going to go to
Boston and bring hell with me.
And the media went crazy.
At the time, Homan said
he was going to go to Boston
and bring hell with him.
I was going to bring hell
to illegal aliens that rape children.
It was not a more heinous crime.
And as you can see,
the amount of child rapists
we've arrested
under this administration
that could have been arrested
under the Biden administration.
They were out there.
They had their final orders.
They were out there.
But they didn't go look for them.
They were too busy releasing
millions of illegal aliens
in this country.
And the numbers prove it.
The removal numbers of criminals
was the lowest.
ICE had the lowest number of removals
in the history of ICE under Joe.
At the same time,
you had historic illegal immigration
on the border.
ICE had the lowest numbers
in the history of the agency.
That shows the difference
between two administrations.
We're looking for every one of them.
People want to know,
am I going to retire
for the third time?
I'll retire when every public safety threat,
national security threat,
child rapists eradicate
from this country.
That's when I'll rest.
Thank you so much.
And then Caroline, really quick.
Alex Thompson said
at the White House Correspondence Center,
and I'm going to read his quote,
President Biden's decline
and its cover up
by the people around him
is a reminder that every White House,
regardless of the party,
is capable of deception.
We, myself included,
miss a lot of this story
and some people trust us
less because of it.
Can you comment on those remarks
and whether you agree
with that assessment?
I do agree with that assessment
from Alex Thompson,
who I understand won an award
for writing a story
months and perhaps years
after the American people
already knew that story to be true.
Millions of Americans
watched our mentally
incompetent president
struggle with his day-to-day duties
of this office.
We watched our country
be ran into the ground as a result
and nobody in the media
wanted to write about that,
talk about it.
There were many, many reporters,
I will say, right-leaning reporters
who did talk about that,
who didn't get awards,
didn't get coverage.
In fact, they were lambasted
for their coverage.
And I remember being on
President Trump's campaign,
talking about Joe Biden's
clear mental incompetence
and being accused by people
in this room of manufacturing
deep fake videos,
trying to persuade the public
into not believing
what they saw with their own eyes
for many years.
And I think it's about time
the legacy media finally admits
that was one of the greatest coverups
and scandals that ever took place
in American history.
And certainly it did contribute
to the decline in the trust
that Americans have
for the legacy media.
Which by the way,
is why we've made many changes
to this briefing room
in this White House.
It's long overdue.
Peter, go ahead.
Thank you.
A few things.
You guys arrested
a Milwaukee County circuit judge
for allegedly
helping illegal immigrants get away.
As you guys look at other judges,
would you ever arrest
somebody higher up
on the judicial food chain,
like a federal judge
or even a Supreme Court justice?
That's a hypothetical question.
Again, I defer you
to the Department of Justice
for individuals that they are
looking at or individual cases.
But let's be clear
about what this judge did.
She obstructed
federal law enforcement
who were looking for
an illegal alien in her courthouse.
She showed that illegal alien
the door to evade
law enforcement officials.
That is a clear cut
case of obstruction.
You don't have to be a lawyer
to understand that.
And so anyone
who is breaking the law
or obstructing
federal law enforcement officials
from doing their jobs
is putting themselves
at risk of being prosecuted.
Absolutely.
You guys have at least
18 written trade proposals.
We still don't know
who they are from
or what they contain.
What is the holdup with that?
There's no holdup.
We're working around the clock.
The trade team is working all day.
I was on the phone
late last night
with Secretary Lutnick.
I was on the phone
this weekend as well
with Secretary Bessett.
I mean, the entire team
is working 24-7
to get these trade deals done.
And I think you'll be hearing
more about them this week.
I don't want to get ahead
of the trade team
or the president
in announcing potential deals.
But certainly I can assure
the American public
that this administration
is full speed ahead
in cutting good
and fair trade deals
on behalf of the American worker.
And one more.
After the president's
truth social post,
the Browns finally took
Shadur Sanders.
Does the president think
he deserves credit
for Sanders getting picked?
And does he think
going to the Browns
is better than being undrafted?
Hey, all I will say
is the president
put out a statement
and a few rounds later,
he was drafted.
So I think the facts
speak for themselves
on that one, Peter.
We'll go to the back row
in the middle, to the blonde.
Yes, hello.
President Trump has said
that Secretary Hexhead
will get it together.
Does he think that Texas
doesn't have it together right now?
Look, the president
has made his position
on Secretary Hexhead quite clear.
He absolutely has confidence
in the secretary's ability
ability to lead the Pentagon.
It's why he nominated him
for this position.
It's why the Senate voted
to confirm him in this position.
And look at the success
that DOD has had thus far,
their successful operation
against the Houthi terrorists
in the Middle East.
If you look at the recruitment
and retention levels
for all branches of our armed forces,
are on the incline,
which is exactly what
this president intended to do.
Secretary Hexhead
has completely wiped out DEI
from the Pentagon as well.
And so he's going to remain focused
on standing up for our war fighters,
on implementing President Trump's
peace through strength
foreign policy agenda abroad.
And the president supports him
in his role.
Sure.
Many are wondering
how these 10 or 20 million people
are working.
Is there some efforts
to clamp down on employment?
Because they're working somewhere
to keep staying here.
The number of worksite
enforcement actions
have tripled this year,
and it's going to triple again.
Because in sanctuary jurisdictions,
especially, if we can't arrest
a bad guy in the safety
and security of a county jail,
they're going to release them
into community.
That means we go into the community.
If we can't arrest them
in the community,
we'll arrest them at their worksite.
We got to do what we got to do
to arrest public safety threats.
There's no sanctuary
for public safety threats
in this country.
So worksite enforcement
is going to increase
even more than it already has.
And another reason for worksite,
the last administration
stopped worksites.
Where's the number one place
we find victims of trafficking,
victims of forced labor
trafficking and worksites.
So not only are we going to enforce
law on worksites,
we're going to save victims
of trafficking.
That's another reason
we've increased worksite enforcement.
Go ahead, Brian.
Sure. We'll take one more question.
This is for Mr. Holman.
We all walk by these
heinous yard signs
that are along Pebble Beach.
What is some of the feedback
that your ICE agents
are getting in the field
from the community
as they remove these individuals
from their families,
their neighborhood,
their schools
or all the places
in their community?
What's been the reaction
that your ICE agents
have gotten from the people
who live amongst
these individuals?
The morale of ICE
and Border Patrol
is at all time high
because they're getting
to uphold the oath they took
and they're enforcing the law.
Border Patrol
and the Biden administration,
I met with hundreds of them.
They felt like Uber drivers
and tourist agents.
These men and women
joined the ranks
of ICE and Border Patrol
to enforce the law
and make the community safer
and protect national security.
I hear it all the time.
There's a lot of people
in this country who don't like me.
I don't care.
When I walk to an airport,
I have many people
walking up to me
and thank me for what I'm doing.
And I'm not taking credit
for anything.
The success of the border
and immigration enforcement
is President Trump
and the men and women
wearing that uniform.
God bless each and every one of them.
But I take a pleasure
in seeing it
because in 40 years
of doing this job,
people always want to say,
why are you so emotional
when you testify?
Why are you so emotional
on network?
Because if they wore my shoes
for 40 years,
they'd understand
why I'm emotional.
I've talked to a little girl
who's as young as nine years old
or raped multiple times
by the cartel members.
And when you get to your knees
and you talk,
that little girl
and everything innocent and pure
has been ripped from her.
When you listen to the Lake
and Riley, 17 minutes,
that young lady fighting
for her life.
Don't just think,
OK, a young woman died.
Think of how she died,
the terror that she went through.
And these children
are sexually assaulted.
I stood in the back
of a tractor trailer
and 19 dead people at my feet
that baked to death.
Illegal immigration
is not a victimless crime.
And so every sick person
we take off the streets,
especially child rapists,
it makes this country much safer.
Every illegal alien we arrest,
public safety threat,
one at a time
makes this country safer.
But I got one thing
I need to say real quick
before I leave.
Take your notes from me, Don.
Take my notes from me.
I'm going to read it.
Don, I don't want any
misinterpretation
when I'm reading you.
The registration requirements
under 8 U.S.C. 1302
if you're an illegal alien
in the United States,
this message is for you.
You cannot hide from ICE.
We're actively looking for you.
Federal law requires
every alien in the United States
who has been present
in the United States
more than 30 days
needs to register.
For those 14 years or older,
you need to be fingerprinted
with the Department
of Homeland Security.
Federal law requires
every alien in the United States
to tell DHS in writing
if you have a change in address
within 10 days
of changing that address.
Failing to register with DHS
is unfair to tell DHS
about your new address
are criminal offenses
and they will be treated as such.
Starting today,
make no mistake,
if you're in the country illegally
and you fail to do
what the law requires,
we will prosecute you,
you will go to jail,
then we'll deport you.
Second law,
penalties for failure to depart.
8 U.S.C. 1253.
If you're an alien
inside the United States,
as a final order,
this message is for you.
If you have a final order,
the Trump administration
is committed to enforcing
our immigration laws,
especially for those aliens
who have received
final orders of deportation.
There are currently around
1.4 million illegal aliens
who've been ordered removed
but remain here
in violation of the law.
We will aggressively prosecute
consistent with longstanding law.
Those aliens for failing
or refusing to depart
or who takes other related actions
aimed at hindering their removal.
You cannot open the door,
you cannot answer our questions,
you cannot open your car door,
you're considered to evade
law enforcement.
If you fail to leave the United States
after receiving a removal order,
we can and will issue monetary fines
up to $998 a day.
Evading your arrest,
knowing you have a final order
or removal,
is a criminal offense.
We will prosecute,
then we'll deport you.
Get your affairs in order.
If you're in the country
illegally,
work with ICE,
go to CBP1, OMAP,
and be on your own.
Because we have to find you,
deport you, and prosecute you.
You'll have a bar placed under you
and you won't come back to this country.
You won't be able to come back
on a visitor's visa,
a tourist visa.
If you have a U.S. citizen child
who can't petition for you.
If you're in this country,
get your affairs in order
and work with us
and get yourself removed
in this country.
That's what the law requires
and we're going to enforce that law.
Thank you so much, Tom.
You can get back to work now.
Look, he's already leaving.
He's got a lot to do.
A lot of illegal immigrants to deport.
Thanks everyone for joining us
bright and early this morning.
As I said at the top,
we will do this again tomorrow
to talk about the economy,
which is another promise
made and kept by the president.
And I'll be joined
by the Secretary of Treasury,
Scott Besant,
8.30 tomorrow morning.
Today, the president is welcoming
the Super Bowl champions,
Philadelphia Eagles.
If we have any Philly fans,
that will be at four o'clock.
And then the president will sign
those executive orders I spoke of
and a few others.
So we'll see you all later.
Have a great day.
