Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s point man on mass deportations and border security, told Newsmax on Monday he predicted it wouldn’t take long before Columbia President Gustavo Petro reversed his decision to turn away two U.S. military aircraft carrying criminal illegal immigrants.
Petro on Sunday said he was blocking the flights from entering his country because the U.S. "can’t treat Colombian migrants like criminals," and he insisted upon the use of civilian planes to transport the detainees. But just minutes later, Trump threatened, among other things, to impose a 25% tariff on all goods entering the U.S. from Colombia, which would increase to 50% in a week.
Petro then backed down, offering the use of his presidential plane to help transport the deportees. On Sunday night, the Trump administration and Columbia agreed to all of the president’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal immigrants from Colombia returned from the U.S., including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.
"I knew it was a bad move because President Trump is not going to put up with that," Homan told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "Look, the country needs to take back their nationals. That's a requirement. These people are born in Colombia. They're nationals in Colombia. They're here illegally. So, they get formally deported.
"They need to accept their citizens back, just like we take our citizens back in times of strife. But the minute that came out, I said, this will last an hour because President Trump, he puts America first."
Regarding illegal immigrants from foreign adversaries such as Venezuela and Cuba, Homan said the administration is working on third-country agreements with other nations, but added Trump is persuasive enough to get Venezuela and Cuba to accept deported migrants from the U.S., even those who are part of criminal gangs such as Tren de Aragua.
"First of all, President Trump is a strong president," Homan said. "Mexico didn't want to do something, [but] they did it because he demanded it. Same with El Salvador. … If not, there [are] many other countries we're talking to right now willing to take citizens of those countries. I'm not going to discuss who they are because we're still working on agreements. But if they're not going to stay here, either they go home or find a third safe country for them.
"There could be exportation deals. There can be government assistance and grants, but it's cheaper for us to detain them in another country — it's very expensive to detain them here. But I think the first shot would be [to get] these countries to take them back. I think Venezuela can be squeezed various ways to take their people back. It's the right thing to do. They're citizens of that country. It's their responsibility to take these people back."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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