Tom Homan on death of teen migrant in US custody: When will Congress 'wake up' and act?

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Tom Homan on teen migrant dying in US custody: When will Congress wake up and act?

Lawmakers need to close immigration policy loopholes and save lives, former ICE acting director and Fox News contributor Tom Homan argues.

After it was revealed on Monday that a fifth migrant child has died in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection, former ICE acting director Tom Homan argued that Congress needs to take decisive action regarding immigration laws.

Speaking to hosts on "America's Newsroom" on Tuesday morning, Homan said that Congress' refusal to address loopholes in the immigration system has continued to put people in harm's way.

"This isn't just about enforcement of law but saving lives," the Fox News contributor argued. "As long as Congress won't address the loopholes, people will be put in harm's way."

Homan also addressed the comments made by New York Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand, who said that should she be elected, her administration would not use the detention system at all for illegal immigrants.

Homan called Gillibrand's statements "ridiculous and reprehensible" and said Congress needs to "wake up" and take action.

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"It is about saving lives of a vulnerable population that wants to take advantage of the enticements the Democratic leadership throw out there - like Senator Gillibrand," Homan said.

"She believes in sanctuary cities, open borders, abolishing ICE. Now she doesn't want to detain anybody? You think that kind of talk from a presidential candidate will help the situation?" he asked.

Furthermore, Homan argued that he predicted there would be a surge in children crossing the border because of the language added by Democrats to an appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

Congress could stem the flow of undocumented children coming into the United States first by amending the Flores settlement agreement, which would take "30 minutes," Homan said.

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"Let us detain families in a family setting," he argued. "We know it worked."

Secondly, he said that undocumented children from Central America should be treated the same way that those from Mexico are.

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"Once they ascertain you aren't a victim of trafficking we should remove them back to their families and home country the way we do Mexicans. If we fix those two things you would see the border get 75% control," he said.