Sen. Lindsey GrahamRS.C., warned that Republicans in Congress must speed up funding for President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to continue his mass deportation plan, or they could “own another attack on this country.”
Graham appeared on NBC and CNN Sunday to advocate for two separate bills — a $100 billion border package and another $200 billion bill aimed at “national security.”
As debate continues in both chambers, Graham cautioned Republicans that they should not take too long to reach a consensus. He said Homan needs immediate funding to continue implementing his mass deportation strategy, including increasing the number of detention beds from 41,000 to roughly 150,000, hiring more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, completing a border wall and securing new technology.
HOMAN WARNS DAILY MIGRANT ARRESTS ‘KEEPING UP’ AS TRUMP ADMIN TARGETS NON-VIOLENT ILLEGALS
Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, speaks during the confirmation hearing for Russell Vought, the nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“This whole debate in the Republican Party, do you need one or two bills now? Right now, Tom Homan needs more money to hire ICE agents. He needs more money to finish the wall to increase bed space,” Graham told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He doesn’t have the tools to implement this plan that President Trump has given him until Congress appropriates more money.”
Graham argued that the tax debate could wait until the end of the year, but Congress cannot delay border funding given the national security implications.
“To my Republican colleagues, we’ve hit a wall here. We’re not building a wall. We’ve hit a wall,” Graham told CNN. “We have to allocate money for Tom Homan so he can do what President Trump promised. And if we delay it – the taxes are due in December, we have plenty of time to deal with it – I worry that we will see another attack on our country. I worry that we are delaying this plan that President Trump has pushed for if Congress does not give his administration, Tom Homan, the money to implement the plan that he promised, that President Trump promised. We need to come together quickly on this, in my opinion.”
Tom Homan speaks during day three of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 17, 2024. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
TRUMP DHS VOIDS KEY MAYOR MEMORANDUM RESTRICTING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW
“We need more money for Tom Homan. I’m for deporting illegal immigrants who are criminals. Most people are. The public is with him. But if you don’t get new money into the system, Tom Homan can’t do his job,” added Graham. “We need more bed space. We need to finish the wall. But I think the main issue for Donald Trump has been to tackle illegal immigration, and he’s off to a good start. We just need to help him in Congress.”
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Graham doubted that Homan was interested in deporting close to 11 million people in the US illegally. As host Kristen Welker noted that Trump had signaled he was potentially interested in ending a deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for people brought to the United States illegally as minors, Graham said the focus appeared to be The Trump administration’s deportations remain on criminal illegal immigrants. He stated that there are about 1.4 million illegal immigrants “whose cases have been fully adjudicated and are still here,” and there are “about 680,000 convicted of serious crimes.”
Graham said Homan needs more funding from Congress to hire ICE agents. (Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“This is an issue for the Republican Party. We’re talking about this, but we don’t have the resources. We haven’t given the resources to the Trump team. Tom Homan, the border czar, said yesterday, ‘without money from Congress, I can’t do it,'” Graham said, adding: “Give Tom the tools he needs to implement a mass deportation strategy to deal with the mass illegal immigration problem that Biden created,” Graham told NBC. “Without new money, he can’t do it.”
