Homan Disputes Claim ICE Waited at Bus Stops

Homan Disputes Claim ICE Waited at Bus Stops

The News

What Homan said

White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday he is not aware of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arresting parents at school bus stops in Connecticut, pushing back on an allegation made last week by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

What prompted it

Murphy wrote on X on Wednesday that "ICE was arresting parents at school bus stops" in Danbury, Conn.

DHS denied it before Homan spoke

The Department of Homeland Security had already rejected the allegation. In an unsigned statement Thursday, quoted by the Stamford Advocate and CT Insider, the department said: "Any claim that ICE targeted parents at a school bus stop is FALSE." The statement went on: "Unsurprisingly, Senator Murphy's narrative is a work of fiction aimed at scoring cheap political points at the expense of our officers."

Reactions

Speaking to CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union," Homan said: "I pointed out, the last two years, no one can point to one single incidence we arrested anybody in elementary school. We haven't arrested anybody in the hospital. We haven't arrested anybody in the church. ICE is real good at their job."

He continued: "Now, did they arrest somebody at a bus stop? I'm not aware of that, but ICE is out there to enforce law against those that have been ordered removed by a federal judge. And especially if they're a criminal or if they're a national security threat, there's no safe harbor for them in this country." The exchange was reported by The Hill, which posted at 10:55 a.m. ET Sunday.

CNN, in its own account of the interview, reported that Homan told Bash: "I will make an inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security."

"But it's more sinister," the senator added in the same post. "ICE waited until the kids were on the bus so when they are dropped off at the end of the day, they are alone, scared to death they can't find their parents. I'm heading to Danbury."

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) posted on X on Thursday that he was "horrified by the stories shared by activists in Danbury." He wrote: "Parents detained dropping their children off at the school bus. 3 year old children watching ICE forcibly detain someone outside their daycare window. Rounding up people at random to meet a quota doesn't make our communities safer."

More

What is not established

Nobody has produced a public record of an arrest at a school bus stop in Danbury. Newsweek reported that Murphy did not immediately provide evidence supporting the claim that agents deliberately waited until children had boarded buses before making arrests.

The Frank has not seen ICE arrest logs, court filings, video or a named individual arrested at a bus stop, and has not independently verified either Murphy's account or DHS's denial. Homan's answer is a statement of what he personally knows, not a records check — he said he would ask DHS.

What is separately reported is that immigration enforcement activity in Danbury was heavy last week. The Stamford Advocate reported ICE arrested nearly 100 people in Connecticut over the week; NBC Connecticut reported dozens of arrests in Danbury. Those reports do not by themselves establish where any individual arrest took place.

The wider fight

The Hill notes the Trump administration has faced sustained backlash over its immigration agenda during the president's second term, including deaths in confrontations with immigration authorities in Minneapolis, Maine and Texas.

Sourcing: Homan's quotes and the Murphy and Lamont posts are as reported by The Hill; the "inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security" line is CNN's; the DHS statement is as quoted by the Stamford Advocate and CT Insider; the note on evidence is Newsweek's.

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