Border czar Tom Homan has threatened to arrest New Jersey governor Phil Murphy after the Democrat revealed he is harboring an undocumented migrant in his home.
The former head of ICE, who has been tasked by Donald Trump to oversee border control, said Murphy’s words were ‘foolish’ because he admitted to breaking the law.
‘It’s a foolish thing what he said, because I got note of it, won’t let it go, will look into it,’ Homan said on Fox News.
‘And if he’s knowingly harboring and concealing an illegal alien… I would seek prosecution or the secretary [of homeland security] would seek prosecution.
‘So maybe he’s bluffing. If he’s not, we’ll deal with that.’
Holman’s comment comes after Murphy implied he and his wife Tammy are assisting a person who could fall foul of President Trump’s illegal migrant crackdown.
‘I don’t want to get into too much detail, but there’s someone in our broader universe that… their immigration status is not yet to the point that they’re trying to get it to,’ he said.
‘We said, you know what, lets have her live at our house above our garage and good luck to the feds coming in who are trying to find her.’
It’s unclear if Murphy was referencing the governor’s mansion in Trenton or another personal property.
The comment was met with silence from the crowd and sparked a wave of backlash once video of the discussion was posted on YouTube.
‘I hope they come to your house,’ one critic said. ‘This is sick,’ another said. ‘Arrest Governor Murphy. What is wrong with you. They will go after his family.’
A third added: ‘I hope ICE goes after this guy hook line and sinker. If he can’t obey the law he has no place in our government and should be dismissed immediately.’
Undeterred by the reaction to his admission in the crowd, Murphy went on to compare the current situation in America to Nazi Germany.
‘I fear, I’m a former US Ambassador to Germany… The Germans in the 20s and 30s got tired.
‘They got sick of fighting, and look at the price we paid. We cannot roll over, we cannot stop fighting. We need intensity.’
In spite of the criticism toward Trump and his administration, Murphy said he is one of the ‘few Democrats that has a relationship with President Trump.’
He credited Trump and his team for being ‘indispensable’ during the first few months of the pandemic, adding: ‘We worked very closely together.’
Murphy has invited Trump to the grand opening of a roads project that the President greenlit during his first term.
‘We’re not going to sacrifice our values,’ he promised. ‘You fight like hell for values, for communities, for people, and you try to find common ground where you can.
‘There are things that have less ideology and I think they give you, in his eyes… you can probably buy some goodwill on the stuff you really care about.’
Murphy accepted it is not an easy feat that is ahead of him, and that it may not work as smoothly as it did the last time around.
Separately, US Border Patrol agents stopped 4,577 people attempting to enter the country illegally at the Mexico border – down 50 per cent from the week earlier.
Trump expanded arrest priorities to anyone in the country illegally, not just people with criminal convictions, public safety or national security threats and migrants stopped at the border. Still, some said it was business as usual for ICE — at least so far.
