Tom Homan Fires Back at Angie Nixon Over ICE Racial Profiling Claims
Trump administration border czar Tom Homan is pushing back against Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon after she accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement of racial profiling and warned that Black Americans could be mistakenly targeted by federal immigration agents.
Homan called Nixon’s accusations “ridiculous” during a television appearance over the weekend, insisting that ICE agents enforce immigration laws based on a person’s legal status rather than race or skin color. He said agents need reasonable suspicion before questioning someone and probable cause before making an arrest.
“We don’t arrest people based on the color of their skin,” Homan said. He then described himself as an “equal opportunity deporter,” pointing to deportations involving people from approximately 180 countries to argue that immigration enforcement extends across nationalities and racial groups.
Homan said his position is straightforward: anyone found to be living in the United States illegally can face deportation regardless of whether that person comes from Asia, Europe or elsewhere. He accused critics of repeatedly making false allegations in an attempt to vilify ICE agents.
The clash follows controversial comments from Nixon, who recently won Florida’s Democratic Senate primary. Nixon has made abolishing ICE and ending immigration detention centers part of her political platform, describing mass detention and deportation as “moral failures.”
During a recent podcast appearance, Nixon went considerably further, describing ICE as a “weaponized paramilitary force” and accusing Republicans of “literally trying to kill us.” She argued that federal immigration enforcement represents a form of state-sanctioned violence affecting Black communities.
Nixon has also warned that ICE officers could have difficulty distinguishing between Black Americans and immigrants from countries such as Jamaica or Nigeria. She claimed that could lead to Black American citizens being racially profiled and potentially caught up in confrontations with immigration authorities.
Homan flatly rejected that argument. He maintained that ICE operates under established legal standards and said officers cannot simply arrest someone because of their appearance. The Department of Homeland Security similarly rejected Nixon’s allegations as “disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE,” maintaining that immigration status rather than race determines enforcement actions.
The border czar also used the dispute to renew his criticism of sanctuary jurisdictions. Homan argues that policies limiting cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration agents force ICE officers to conduct more arrests in communities rather than taking custody of individuals while they are already incarcerated.
According to Homan, street arrests can increase risks for immigration officers, suspects and bystanders because circumstances are less controlled. He pointed to the July death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an immigration enforcement operation in Houston while making his case against sanctuary policies.
Nixon’s immigration positions are likely to remain a major issue in Florida’s Senate contest. She defeated Alexander Vindman in the Democratic primary and will face Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in November for the remainder of the Senate term previously held by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The confrontation therefore provides an early preview of one of the race’s central divides. Nixon is campaigning on dramatically reducing federal immigration enforcement and abolishing ICE, while Homan and Republicans are defending the agency and arguing that immigration laws should be enforced regardless of a person’s nationality or background.