Border czar Tom Homan and DeSantis bash Congress during immigration roundtable

Border czar Tom Homan and Gov. Ron DeSantis scolded the Republican-controlled Congress during a roundtable discussion Thursday, accusing lawmakers of failing to solidify President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive orders on immigration.

Following the start of Trump’s second term, the governor has repeatedly bashed Congress. During the hour-long discussion at the New College of Florida in Sarasota, Homan, DeSantis, and Chad Wolf, former acting secretary of Homeland Security, spent several minutes criticizing the legislative branch, which Republicans control by a narrow majority.

“Let’s not forget, under Trump One, Trump 45, you had the House and the Senate. They didn’t help him,” Homan said. “I’m not just talking about Democrats. … Bottom line is, now we have both again and, as Gov. DeSantis said, we’re not getting what we need. So, they didn’t learn a lesson from the first administration. I was hoping and praying they learned a lesson. Let’s hope they come through.”

The roundtable, which drew protests outside the campus’ Sainer Pavilion, was part of the college’s Socratic Stage Dialogue Series meant to provide a wide range of viewpoints, according to its website. Richard Corcoran, a former state House speaker hired by the DeSantis-appointed board of trustees as New College’s president, moderated the discussion.

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DeSantis expressed skepticism that the U.S. Supreme Court would rule in favor of the Trump administration’s attempt to get rid of birthright citizenship.

The governor said some of the court’s conservative justices are not reliable, calling out Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Roberts issued a public statement Wednesday stating that impeaching judges was not an appropriate response to legal disagreements after Trump called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who attempted to block the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants.

“I think the Supreme Court will tackle it. Look, I don’t know that I would be heavily optimistic that they’ll rule the right way,” DeSantis said. “I think it’s possible, but I think it’s very much a jump ball.”

Homan said he had the same fear as DeSantis regarding the court’s decision. The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to limit the scope of the orders from federal judges in three states blocking the executive order ending birthright citizenship for people whose parents were not citizens or legal permanent residents.

At the end of the discussion, DeSantis said he was working on a proposal to increase the immigration enforcement collaboration with the federal government. Florida state and local law enforcement have hundreds of agreements with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement to deputize officers to question and detain people based on their immigration status. DeSantis has referred to those agreements as the maximum level of cooperation.

“I think they’re this close to approving and letting us go out and do even more than we’ve already done over the first two months of the Trump administration,” DeSantis said. “So we’re looking forward to that love to be able to announce something soon.”

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