Homan Clashes with CBS Reporter Over Migrant Deaths.. "How Many People Died Under Biden?"

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Tom Homan, the border enforcement official in President Donald Trump's administration, engaged in a heated confrontation with a CBS News reporter during a press interview discussing the conditions of migrants held by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after the reporter raised the issue of the rising number of deaths inside detention centers.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News immigration correspondent, stated that official data from ICE indicates that 57 people have died while in custody of the agency since the current Trump administration took office, adding that another death was announced on the same day. The reporter noted that the year 2026 could record a "new record high" in the number of detainees who die while in ICE custody, questioning what the administration is doing to prevent these deaths. Montoya-Galvez mentioned that the increase in the number of detainees could be one explanation for the rise in deaths, but he wondered if this increase alone was sufficient to explain the situation.

Homan responded directly with a counter-question: "How many people died during the Biden administration?" He then repeated the question to the reporter: "How many people died in custody during the Biden administration? Do you know?" Montoya-Galvez answered that a large number of people died during that period, but Homan continued to press him, saying: "Do you know?"

When the reporter returned to discussing the possibility that 2026 might be the highest year for deaths, Homan interrupted him again: "Do you know how many people died during the Biden administration?" The CBS reporter acknowledged, saying: "I don't have the data here."

Homan said: "Of course you don't own it.. Again, it's a loaded question against the Trump administration."

Homan then moved on to defend the detention conditions at ICE, asserting that the agency applies, according to him, "the highest standards of detention" compared to state and federal government facilities.

He stated that the rising number of deaths is partially linked to the significant increase in the number of detainees, noting that the number of people in ICE custody exceeded 70,000, and at one point recently reached around 74,000 detainees. Homan also defended the level of medical care provided to detainees, saying that ICE doctors sometimes discover serious medical conditions that detainees were unaware of before receiving treatment inside detention centers. He added that during his previous tenure as ICE director, the agency spent nearly a billion dollars on medical care. Homan said that the death of any person in custody is "unfortunate and sad," emphasizing that the agency does what it can to provide the best possible medical care, adding that the mortality rates in ICE facilities were, according to the latest data he reviewed, among the lowest compared to state and federal prisons.

In a comment on the interview, Theo Wold, a former official in the first Trump administration, criticized the CBS reporter's questions, considering that the journalist came to the interview with confrontational questions without having the necessary data to support them. Wold stated that the goal of journalism should be to inform the public, not to produce "ideological clips" for news broadcasts.

He added that deaths of detainees cannot be completely prevented by any administration, arguing that the increase in immigration enforcement under Trump led to a rise in the number of detainees, and thus an increased likelihood of deaths occurring within detention centers, according to him.