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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTom Homan Suggests ICE Agents Can Briefly Detain Individuals Based on Physical Appearance
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/news-tom-homan-suggests-ice-agents?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#media-c64185e7-010a-478d-a5ee-d06f2c318d8fVideo at link
This morning on Fox News, Tom Homan, currently serving as Border Czar under President Donald Trumps administration, made a legally dubious and deeply concerning claim about the power of immigration enforcement agents.
People need to understand ICE officers and Border Patrol don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them based [in part] on their physical appearance, Homan said.
This statement is both misleading and dangerous and its simply not true under U.S. law. No officer of the law, including those with ICE or Border Patrol, can stop and detain someone solely because of how they look, sound, or dress. That is racial profiling, and it violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Immigration enforcement agents need a legal justification to briefly detain someone specifically, they must have a reasonable suspicion, based on specific facts, that a person is in violation of immigration laws. Skin color, clothing, language, or accent do not count as legitimate justification.
Homans comment, coming from a high-ranking federal official, dangerously distorts this legal standard. It suggests that ICE officers have more power than the law allows and encourages unconstitutional practices.
MOre at link

EYESORE 9001
(28,591 posts)This buffoon needs to be dope-slapped in the legal sense.
obamanut2012
(28,652 posts)And, there are A LOT of undocumented Russian immigrants in SOFL, and plenty of undocumented Irish citizens in the NE and Mid-Atlantic.
But, they aren't going after them. That's white. I mean, that's right.
spanone
(139,670 posts)MineralMan
(149,504 posts)and stop them unless they can produce a warrant.
The problem is that local law enforcement in many places is led by right-wingers, too. We've allowed our law enforcement to control far too much, I believe and do not prevent outside agencies from acting illegally.
Only law enforcement will be able to control law enforcement. If they won't do it, it won't get done.
rubbersole
(10,127 posts)When the billions of bbb dollars are spread around - a bunch of local law enforcement agencies are going to not only support ICE they are going to want to join in. Beyond scary.
MineralMan
(149,504 posts)I'm not ready yet to give into such a thing, however.
BidenRocks
(1,858 posts)Used military equipment to local police.
Soon these podunk depts had tanks, apc's and other battle hardware to use against 'violent' crime.
Of course like the shoe bomber, there was only one West Hollywood B of A robbery involving very heavily armed nen. Two. These were one offs.
Yet the cops continue to maintain this equipment.
NOW might be a good time to protect and serve We The People!
It nobody is fighting for us, the thrown rocks, very Gaza like, against vehicles is only the start.
These are terrorists!
Eugene
(65,824 posts)credit: IrishBubbaLiberal
ICE policy already allows officers to fudge the standards for detaining people. Homan takes it even further.
gay texan
(3,031 posts)Some of us might fight back
OldBaldy1701E
(8,420 posts)
It may well be a 'lost cause'. I don't care...
BOSSHOG
(43,356 posts)From Scotland. Hey it works. Dont need no stinking probable cause. Just lock him up. His guilt or innocence is irrelevant.
rurallib
(63,934 posts)Arrest Tom Homan NOW!
markodochartaigh
(3,378 posts)Baitball Blogger
(50,500 posts)The government is going to lose a lot of money from the lawsuits, when they inconvenience Americans.
Ping Tung
(3,073 posts)
Bayard
(26,045 posts)My beautiful great niece looks like this--black hair and large dark eyes. She looks just like her daddy, whose parents are from El Salvador. (here and legal.) My nephew-in-law is a former Army Ranger from Calif. I kind of pity an ICE agent trying to stop him.
Ray Bruns
(5,416 posts)
lonely bird
(2,425 posts)Just flat out NO!
And fuck Homan with a rusty rasp.
Wounded Bear
(62,536 posts)sakabatou
(45,104 posts)instead of, you know, getting an actual warrant?
Scalded Nun
(1,445 posts)is to normalize the actions and behavior of these assholes, and to groom the population for acceptance of these practices...with much more to come.
surfered
(8,021 posts)Seinan Sensei
(1,071 posts)with no warrants, no name tags, no identifying badges.
they need to be arrested
Because I dont like the way THEY look
Torchlight
(5,157 posts)at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
If appearance is cause for a detainment, then it's certainly cause for mere suspicion on our part. We can't be too careful, even it it means flooding them with tips about every single non-white person we see.
underpants
(191,552 posts)
kimbutgar
(25,585 posts)Ray Bruns
(5,416 posts)The essence of bigotry.
AverageOldGuy
(2,753 posts)Old white man - fits the description perfectly.
whathehell
(30,205 posts)so an "Old white man" does not , in fact "fit the description perfectly".
I doubt anyone here likes Homan, but his race and age do not make him more likely to molest children than men of other ages and races.
Farmer-Rick
(11,875 posts)The 14th Amendment prohibits government from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. When it was adopted, the Clause was understood to mean that the government could deprive a person of rights only according to law applied by a court.
These Trump Humpers are locking up anything that remotely resembles a good tan without any court even noticing. Trump better watch out he doesn't use too much facial tanner. Racial profiling leads to strange and abusive results.
Gore1FL
(22,551 posts)Celerity
(50,961 posts)By 2014, under the Obama administration, Homan began to argue that separating children from their caregivers would be an effective means of discouraging illegal border crossings.
The journalist Caitlin Dickerson describes him as the "intellectual father" of the policy, which he outlined years before it was adopted by the Trump administration. "Most parents dont want to be separated", Homan told Dickerson. He argued that this fact made separation an effective tool for immigration enforcement: "Id be lying to you if I didnt think that would have an effect."
In 2015, Obama awarded him a Presidential Rank Award as a Distinguished Executive. The Washington Post article at the time stated, "Thomas Homan deports people. And he's really good at it."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Homan#Obama_administration_(2014%E2%80%932016)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/04/25/meet-the-man-the-white-house-has-honored-for-deporting-illegal-immigrants/
https://archive.ph/YaQFC

Homan is the Washington bureaucrat in charge of rounding up, detaining and kicking illegal immigrants out of the country. As Americans fight over whether the next president should build a wall on the Mexico border to keep migrants out or protect millions of them from deportation, Homan is actually hunting undocumented immigrants down right now, setting strategy for 8,000 officers on the front lines.
He was honored last week with the governments highest civil service award, bestowed on federal leaders whose work gets extraordinary results. According to his bosses at the Department of Homeland Security, not only did Homan successfully handle an unexpected surge of unaccompanied children and families who have streamed here from Central America across the Southwest border, but last year his operations set records for the share of illegal immigrants expelled from the U.S. who had criminal records.
Many of President Obamas immigration policies have been unpopular with immigration advocates who say he has not done enough to overhaul a system that relies on deportations. But Homeland Security officials were intent on plugging Homans success.
snip
If Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) gets to the White House, this former New York police officer could be the person charged with deporting approximately 11 million people who are in the United States illegally. Or he could delay kicking out about 5 million undocumented migrants whom the Obama administration has sought to allow to work here legally, making its case last week before the Supreme Court.
snip
Old Crank
(5,930 posts)For looking like mass murderers or Nazis.
WestMichRad
(2,404 posts)liberalgunwilltravel
(873 posts)Tom Homan shouldnt last the rest of the day.
Justice matters.
(8,654 posts)That creepy unconstitutional domestic terrorist should be put in his place!
swong19104
(463 posts)its profiling. Its her short skirt says she was asking for it, and his long hair says hes a druggie. Back to the good ol days of the 50s and 60s where nonconformity lands you in the group W bench, right, officer Obie?
I actually met Officer later Chief Obanhiem years ago! Socially, not in his official capacity, thank goodness. He had partnered with Alice Brock in a restaurant next to Tanglewood after she'd closed Take Out Alice out on 183 west of Stockbridge, Mass.
GiqueCee
(2,573 posts)... then looking like a rancid ham would land Homan in the slammer in a nanosecond.
Permanut
(7,331 posts)rsdsharp
(11,081 posts)The Court created the concept of detention in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968). In an 8-1 decision (Douglas, J., dissenting) the Court allowed police to briefly detain people to investigate if the police have reasonable articulable suspicion that they have committed, are committing, or will commit a crime. The suspicion must be based on specific objective facts.
Youre brown doesnt rise to that level
Wicked Blue
(8,137 posts)
xocetaceans
(4,223 posts)...wannabe clamoring for a Hugo Boss outfit. That seems "valid" based purely on his criterion of "reasonable suspicion".
However, Homan would have been a perfect fit for the character Dim in "A Clockwork Orange", if he could have handled the spoken part.
0rganism
(25,249 posts)Not that these sick fucks follow legal guidelines anyway. I just want to see some indication that they're aware of any implicit distinction in the words they use.
US laws aren't worth the paper they're written on anymore. It's rule by decree from F47, with no accountability whatsoever and barely a finger-wag from the press.
Justice matters.
(8,654 posts)Including that ICE hole.
Nictuku
(4,287 posts)Fixed it: Tom Homan Suggests ICE Agents Can *Be* Briefly Detain*ed* Individuals Based on Physical Appearance
They look and act like criminals and hoods.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(126,173 posts)His ugly face is enough to make one lose their lunch.
LetMyPeopleVote
(166,532 posts)Tom Homans comments about ICE agents being able to detain people based on their physical appearance will likely make racial profiling concerns worse.
White House border czar suggests ICE can detain people based on âphysical appearanceâ
— Thomas Keepout (@thomasworking.bsky.social) 2025-07-11T16:32:39.771Z
#CorruptTrump
#RacistInChief
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/white-house-border-czar-suggests-ice-can-detain-people-based-physical-rcna218285
But were often reminded that his rhetorical record is still growing.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3ltoyyfr5vt2m
Link to tweet
In his latest Fox News appearance, Homan said: Look, people need to understand, ICE officers and Border Patrol dont need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them. They just need totality of the circumstances, right? They just go through the observation, get our typical facts based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions.
NBC News reported earlier this year about concerns related to racial profiling as part of the Trumps administration immigration raids, and hearing the White House border czar talk about ICE agents being able to detain people based on their physical appearance will likely make those concerns worse.
What's more, Homan's on-air comments sparked quick pushback from Capitol Hill. Rep. Daniel Goldman said via Bluesky that the border czar's assessment was "patently false."
The New York Democrat added, "DHS has authority to question and search people coming into the country at points of entry. But ICE may not detain and question anyone without reasonable suspicion and certainly not based on their physical appearance alone. This lawlessness must stop."
Denvermosaic
(144 posts)Joinfortmill
(18,605 posts)Arazi
(8,177 posts)Cant believe this is going to have to be litigated (again)
ð¨Federal judge orders DHS to limit âroving patrolsâ in Los Angeles.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) 2025-07-12T02:32:32.629Z
The judge finds that the evidence shows that DHS officers are racially profiling people to demand their papers, which all sides agree is illegal, and orders DHS to stop those unlawful practices.