Thomas Homan, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief, recently took a Democratic lawmaker to the proverbial woodshed in the middle of a House hearing Tuesday after she accused the ICE agency of “demonizing” illegals who broke U.S. law when they crossed the border.

Rep. Nanette Barragan of California made the following statement during the hearing:

“We love to talk about this issue of MS-13 gangs. We love to paint immigrants as criminals. That is not the complete facts and that is very offensive for me to see continuing to happen,” Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., said during a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on border and maritime issues.

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“It makes me sick to my stomach to keep hearing over and over again, painting the broad stroke and the picture as though these are folks who are coming here to do harm,” Barragan said.

This comment did not at all sit well with Homan, who was not questioned following Barragan’s remarks, prompting him to speak up and deliver a scathing rebuke:

“First of all, no one on this panel is anti-immigrant. We’re law enforcement officers enforcing the laws that you all enacted. So to sit there and say that we’re anti-immigrant is wrong. We are enforcing laws,” said Homan, acting ICE director. “If you think it’s OK to enter this country illegally — you shouldn’t be arrested, that’s just wrong. The laws clearly state, ‘You enter here illegally, it is a crime.'”

“And no one’s up here saying all illegal aliens are criminals. A certain percentage of them certainly are criminals — they commit yet another offense after they’re here,” Homan added. “I have said many times that I certainly understand the plight of these people and I feel bad for some of these people, but I have a job to do. I have to enforce the law and uphold the oath I took to enact the laws enacted by you in Congress.”

When, in America, did it suddenly become “racist” or “hateful” to demand that people who want to come to this country do so the right way and respect our laws as a nation? Is it really too much to ask for these folks to come in through the front door instead of sneaking in a window?

Of course not all immigrants have rap sheets or are criminal masterminds who want to build some sort of twisted empire here. No one is saying that. However, by default of their own actions, by entering this country illegally they have broken the law. It’s not unreasonable to assume that if they will break that law, they might break others.

At the end of the day, we still want the best and the brightest from all over the world. We just simply ask them to respect our laws and come here legally. That’s not hateful, that’s common sense.

Source: The Washington Examiner