Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Trump Border Czar Tom Homan denied that Milo Yiannopoulos received preferential treatment because he was deported a day after being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Partial transcript as follows:
BASH: I want to start with the case of Milo Yiannopoulos. There is a lot we don’t know here. What kind of visa was he under? And did he apply to extend that visa?
HOMAN: Look, it’s my understanding, looking at the Department of Homeland Security press release, that he overstayed his visa. I believe it was a visitor visa, but I’m not sure. But he overstayed the visa. He was ordered to appear in immigration court. He didn’t show up. The judge ordered him deported. So, once ICE gets an order of deportation from a federal judge, their job is to execute that order, and that’s what they did. He had his due process, ordered removed by a federal judge, and ICE removed him. It’s that simple.
BASH: Homeland Security said he was arrested Thursday. We understand he was deported the next day. That seems like a pretty quick turnaround. Was he given preferential treatment to leave, instead of remaining in an ICE detention facility longer?
HOMAN: No, we have been working steadily the last few months on getting people out quicker, that way to save the taxpayers money in detention space. The quicker once a judge orders them out, rather than being in detention, waiting for travel documents and flight arrangements, we — ICE, along with the CBP and Department of Homeland Security, working really good on the efficiencies of the removal process. Get them out quick, open those beds up for more detainees to be held.
BASH: So that’s standard now, or that’s the goal?
HOMAN: We track the average length of stay, and we want to get the average length of stay, average length of stay in detention down. We want to execute those orders as soon as we can get them.
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