Homan says ICE isn’t ‘going anywhere’ amid immigration enforcement scrutiny

White House border czar Tom Homan stood behind Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Thursday, saying the agency is “not going anywhere” despite recent scrutiny surrounding its escalated enforcement operations.

“You can hate us all you want. We’re not going anywhere,” Homan said during an introductory speech at Department of Justice (DOJ) Victims of Violent Crime Summit.

Homans comments come as several use of force cases involving ICE agents draw lawmakers’ attention, and the agency breaks detention and deportation records.

On Sunday, an ICE officer in Austin shot Venezuelan national, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, while he was in his vehicle completing a food delivery for DoorDash. He was taken to the hospital before being released into ICE’s custody.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed the 28-year-old man “illegally entered” the U.S. under the Biden administration, which his lawyer has denied, and “had a final order of removal” from an immigration judge.

The shooting sparked backlash from Texas officials, including Rep. Greg Casar (D), who pushed for ICE to leave the Lone Star State’s capital. On the day of the incident, Casar called for “full transparency” from the agency as Austin officials investigate the shooting — days before the Associated Press reported the agent involved was not wearing a body camera .

In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) directed state police to investigate an ICE vehicle pursuit in Grand Rapids over the weekend, which resulted in a fatal collision. Mario David Coronado Juarez, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, was killed in a car crash after allegedly attempting to flee from an immigration agent’s traffic stop.

While Homan did not mention these widely covered ICE-involved incidents during his Thursday remarks, he attributed the “hate” against the agency to members of the media after asserting, “We’re going to keep pushing. We’re not going to apologize.”

“ICE will continue doing the job every day across this country, especially in sanctuary cities, where we’ll surge resources and flood the zone. We’re going to enforce the law without apology,” the border czar said. “You got my word on that.”