Tom Homan wants Pope Leo XIV to ride along with ICE agents: ‘They don’t understand’
President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, is inviting the head of the world’s largest religious group to join U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on a ride-along in an American city.
While speaking at a Turning Point USA panel on Wednesday, Homan, who has identified himself as a “lifelong Catholic,” confirmed he would like Pope Leo XIV to join federal officers for a ride-along because “They’re talking about something they don’t understand.”
This comes amid an ongoing feud between the pope and the Trump administration over immigration policy and the conflict in Iran. While maintaining that “every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” Leo has criticized the administration’s interior immigration enforcement as “extremely disrespectful, to say the least.” In response, President Donald Trump has criticized the pope as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Vice President JD Vance, who is also Catholic, has suggested that “in some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality.”
However, Homan, who oversees Trump’s border security efforts, has taken a different approach. Asked on the panel Wednesday whether he was inviting the pope to participate in a ride-along with ICE, he responded emphatically, “Yes.”
“I will sit down and talk to him,” he said. “Because they’re talking about something that they don’t understand.”
Homan said, “I’ll explain to them what happened under the Biden administration. An open border is the most inhumane thing you can do.”
He went on to rip into former President Joe Biden and former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over their handling of the border from 2021 to 2025. He said the previous administration used tax dollars to provide illegal immigrants with transportation, lodging, and work authorization.
“When you make that promise to the whole world, the most vulnerable people will give their life savings to the cartels to make that dangerous journey,” said Homan.
“The most humane thing you can do,” he said, “is secure the border.”