Border Czar Homan Accuses Church, Claims Opposition Costs Lives
Tom Homan unloaded on the Catholic hierarchy after their public rebuke of aggressive immigration enforcement, arguing the bishops’ stance undermines rule of law and endangers lives. He framed the debate around practical consequences, saying strong border policy reduces cartel deaths and limits the flow of deadly fentanyl. Homan, speaking from his background in enforcement and as a self-described lifelong Catholic, pushed back hard against moralizing that he sees as disconnected from reality.
Homan did not hold back on the Church itself, insisting its leaders should reflect before lecturing the nation. “The Catholic Church is wrong,” Homan said. “I’m sorry. I’m a lifelong Catholic. I’m saying it not only as a border czar — I’ll say it as a Catholic. They need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church, in my opinion.”
He challenged the bishops’ rhetoric as tone-deaf to the criminal nature of illegal entry and the human cost it creates. “So according to them, the message we should send to the whole world is that if you cross the border illegally, which is a crime, don’t worry about it,” Homan said, pointing out the perverse incentive created by soft public signals. His complaint was not theological hair-splitting but a blunt argument about deterrence and public safety.
Homan also flagged the inconsistency he sees between Vatican security practices and the bishops’ demands of the U.S. government. He noted the Vatican strictly controls access to its property and treats trespass harshly, using that contrast to argue that America has every right to secure its own border. “We have a right to secure our borders, just like they have a right to secure their facility. You can’t enter their facility without getting arrested. The penalties for entering their facility are much worse than ours.”
The enforcement official framed the Trump-era approach as life-saving and more humane than the alternative of chaotic, unregulated crossings. He argued desperate migrants rely on violent cartels and unsafe routes that kill thousands, and added that deadly illicit drugs pour through weak spots in border security. “Secure border saves lives. I wish the Catholic Church would understand that,” Homan said, driving home his point that order and enforcement protect both migrants and Americans.
Homan also addressed the legal process, tying enforcement to respect for judicial outcomes and due process. “If you get ordered removed by a federal judge after due process, don’t worry about us, because there should not be mass deportations. Is that the message you send to the whole world?” He used that line to stress that enforcement follows court orders, not arbitrary roundup, and to rebut claims that deportations are inherently cruel.
He closed by boasting of the gains enforcement has produced under a strict posture, invoking historical scale to emphasize effectiveness. Homan said the U.S. now has “the most secure border in the history of this nation,” crediting tough action by ICE and other agencies. For him, security is not an abstract policy preference but tangible reduction in criminal smuggling, cartel power, and drug deaths.
The exchange underlines a larger clash: institutional moral authority versus on-the-ground enforcement realities. Homan’s message is blunt and unforgiving toward faith leaders who he says confuse compassion with permissiveness. That friction will likely sharpen as immigration remains a top political and humanitarian fault line in coming months.
Graduate Student, wife, engaged political and legal writer.
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