Homan softens tone, vows changes to ICE tactics (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, says improvements will be made to how immigration enforcement operations are carried out by federal officers. He's been speaking to reporters in Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preti, have been shot dead by officers in the past month. Mr. Homan was sent to the city to oversee the president's immigration crackdown. He said agents who don't meet the standards of conduct will be dealt with, but insisted the administration won't be surrendering the mission.

[00:00:36] Speaker 2: And Normia Iqbal joins me in the studio.

[00:01:11] Speaker 1: Until very recently, our North America correspondent, Normia, a lot of anticipation in advance of Tom Homan speaking today about what his words, his tone, would signify about President Trump's approach to immigration policy. What's your assessment of it then?

[00:01:27] Speaker 3: Well, his tone was much softer than what we're used to with Tom Homan. He's quite bullish, quite, you know, channels that sort of Trump energy when he gives interviews. And it was clear that he was there to try and take down the temperature a little bit. What I found interesting was that it's the closest we'll probably get to Donald Trump maybe admitting that the operation has not gone to plan. He talked there in that clip about hateful rhetoric and saying that the abuse that ICE agents were getting was somehow to blame for all of this by Democrat leaders in Minnesota, but also protesters. I think it's probably worth mentioning that many people are angry about the heavy tactics that ICE have been using. And whilst Americans broadly support President Trump's deportation plan, there's plenty of polls that also suggest they feel he's gone too far. And I think the fact that Donald Trump sent him down to take charge, take control, reflects that.

[00:02:19] Speaker 1: And I would say that he had many good conversations with leaders in the area. Now, do we know, are we clear whether this drawdown, I think was the word he used, of agents is widespread across the U.S. in states where they're operating, or is this specific to Minnesota, to Minneapolis?

[00:02:37] Speaker 3: He wouldn't really answer that question, would he? I mean, he basically said there's no commitment to, he didn't give a sort of committed timeline in terms of ending the federal operation. He talked more about the sort of the change in tactics. We know there's some reports that ICE agents will be told to, there was this tactic that Greg Bovino had, which was turn and burn. That's what they labeled it, essentially where they would arrest people and beforehand the heavy tactics. So he, that's all he really talked about was that. In terms of the sort of the drawing down, I think the Trump administration still feels that the deportation plan is still something that they want to do. It's just how they now do it. It's interesting, though, that Mr. Homan and the president do refer to protesters as agitators. It's often a word we've heard that they use with protesters we saw in Black Lives Matter in 2020, campus protests in 2024. So it was obvious that the Trump administration still, to a certain extent, thinks that it's people on the ground that are causing this chaos. But as I say, the fact that Mr. Homan is there suggests that the Trump administration knows they need to change the strategy.

[00:03:45] Speaker 1: Yeah. And he seemed to place a lot of emphasis on local authorities cooperating with ICE and the Border Patrol to let them know when people who had been jailed were about to be released from jail. So he said that arrests could be made in the safety and security of jail. Therefore, fewer agents would be needed out in the field, on the streets. I just wonder as well how this leaves President Trump's position vis-a-vis those supporters who actually want to see him going really hard on immigration, don't want to see any drawdown or any easing off from the ICE agents.

[00:04:21] Speaker 3: I mean, there's certainly those in his group, the hardcore supporters, the MAGA supporters, who think that this is fine. But I do think the fact that you have Republicans who are uneasy about this, they're coming out and criticising the method in a way that we haven't seen before. It's probably worth mentioning it's an election year, it's midterms, they're kind of very conscious of that. I think that they know that the vast majority of Americans, whilst, yes, they agree with cracking down on illegal immigration, plenty of administrations before President Trump have done this, they want a change in the tactics. They don't want masked men on the streets arresting people in a way that they think is completely random. And so as I say, the fact that Tom Holman has taken over, and there's some reports that him and Kristi Noem do not get on well, the Homeland Security Secretary, although there's no confirmation of that, I think proves that Mr Trump knows they need to change strategy.

[00:05:12] Speaker 1: OK, Nomia. Thank you very much for that. Nomia Iqbal.