Border Czar Tom Homan defended the Trump administration's ongoing deportations to Haiti on Sunday, arguing that federal immigration agents are simply executing lawful removal orders despite severe violence and instability gripping the Caribbean nation.
Appearing on CNN's State of the Union, Homan was pressed by anchor Dana Bash regarding recent Department of Homeland Security flights carrying deportees back to Haiti, including individuals who previously resided in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.
Bash noted recent remarks from Jennifer Locetta, U.S. representative for special political affairs at the U.N., who described Haiti in a "dire state," saying that "terrorist gangs have murdered civilians, terrorized communities, burned homes, and destroyed families."
"Why is the Trump administration knowingly sending Haitians... into the danger that they describe?" Bash asked.
Homan said federal immigration laws must be upheld — regardless of foreign conditions.
"Temporary Protected Status is supposed to be temporary," Homan said. "As long as I have been around, for over 40 years, it seems like it's never temporary. It gets extended and extended and extended, even if the conditions in the home country have changed. So this is an order of the court. They were ordered removed, and ICE is removing them."
The Trump administration has been deporting hundreds of Haitian immigrants since winning a legal battle to end TPS about 350,000 Haitians, including 158,000 in Florida, most of whom live in South Florida.
Activists have warned that Haiti is currently too dangerous and doesn’t have enough resources to help those being deported to a country of nearly 12 million people, of which more than half need humanitarian assistance because of surging gang violence and deepening poverty, hunger and violence.
READ MORE: More than 50 kidnapped as violent gang attack in Haiti leaves 47 dead
Gang violence already has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,100 people were reported killed from January to June and another 1,189 injured, according to U.N. statistics.
When asked directly if he felt comfortable sending individuals back to a country his own administration described as overrun by gang violence, Homan said "we're just enforcing the law."
"Look, bottom line is, they have been ordered removed. And I don't know the conditions in Haiti. I have never been in Haiti," Homan said. "The judges made a decision they must go home. And they need to go home... we're just enforcing the law. And we're doing it in a way that the American people voted for."
Homan reiterated that the administration’s priority is sending a strong deterrent signal internationally regarding unauthorized entry and overstays.
"President Trump's the president of the United States because he promised to enforce immigration law, and that's exactly what we're doing," Homan added. "We're sending a message to the whole world. The border is no longer open... If you're in the country illegally, we're looking for you, and we find you, we're going to remove you."
Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries deemed dangerous, because of disasters, civil war or other violence or instability. It permits people to work legally in the U.S. but does not provide a path to citizenship. It can be renewed in increments of up to 18 months if the homeland security secretary deems conditions unsafe for return.
