Trump's 'border czar' Tom Homan took a leaf out of Joni Ernst's "We're all going to die" playbook after a reporter asked him to respond to reports of 75-year-old Cuban national Isidro Perez, who died while in ICE custody on June 26. Perez resided in the United States for nearly 60 years and was the twelfth person to die in ICE custody this fiscal year.

"There are reports of a 75-year-old Cuban national who died in ICE custody," a reporter said. "He had lived in the United States for 60 years. He was being held in ICE detention in Florida. Is there anything you can tell us about that?"

"I'm not aware of that," Homan said. "I mean, people die in ICE custody. People die in county jails. People die in state prisons."

"I mean, if you look at, you know, when I was ICE director and we drilled down that, the question should be how many lives does ICE save, because when they go into detention, we find many with diseases and stuff that we deal with right away to prevent death," he continued.

"So I'm not aware of that specific case, but I'll say this," Homan said. "People can argue with me all they want, but the facts are the facts. I think the politicians in New Jersey found this out, that we have the highest detention standards in the industry."

"I'll compare an ICE detention facility against any state prison against any federal facility," he continued. I'll go head-to-head with any of them. You look at, go to ICE.gov, and look at our detention standards."

"It's the highest detention standards in the industry at a very expensive cost to the taxpayers," he added. "So you know, people say, oh, the detention standards are horrendous. Go look for yourself."

It's not soothing when Homan mentions that we, the taxpayers, are footing the bill for the kidnapping of people from the streets in America. ICE is on the verge of financial collapse, and the agency is over budget by more than $1 billion.

More importantly, a 75-year-old man who wasn't a threat to anyone, died in ICE custody, and Trump's border czar doesn't give a single shit. Isidro Perez's life mattered.

The Trump administration on Tuesday afternoon announced that it approved construction of an off-the-grid facility to house ICE detainees in the heart of Florida's "alligator alley," which has been coined "Alligator Alcatraz."

We need more empathy coming from the Trump administration, but with a raging narcissistic maniac at the helm, who has filled his government with psychopaths, we can only expect things to get worse.

Reporter: There are reports of a 75 year old Cuban national who died in ICE custody. He had lived in the US for 60 years.

Homan: I’m unaware of that. People die in ICE custody. People die in jails and state prisons… The question should be how many lives does ICE save because… pic.twitter.com/jPJavc73yV

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 30, 2025