During the Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit on Saturday night, Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, energized the audience when a heckler shouted, “Are you an MS-13 member?”
This provocation only intensified Homan’s passionate concluding remarks as he emphatically declared, “Tom Homan is going to initiate the most extensive deportation operation this nation has ever witnessed. Count on it.”
The crowd erupted into chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” as Homan left the stage. Just five minutes into his speech, a heckler interrupted, leading to their removal by security and sparking an even more fervent tone for the remainder of his address.
Homan had a message to the anti-ICE protesters across the United States, including to those who gathered outside the summit in Tampa, Florida, Saturday night.
“You want some? Come get some,” Homan said. “I’m tired of it. For the men and women of ICE, I deserve your respect. They’re the finest 1% this country has. And Tom Homan isn’t going anywhere. Tom Homan isn’t shutting up.”
When the heckler asked Homan if he was an MS-13 member, referencing the Salvadoran transnational criminal gang that has been targeted through Trump’s deportation rollout, Homan said federal immigration officers are dealing with these types of detractors on a daily basis.
“This guy wouldn’t know what it’s like to serve this nation. This guy ain’t got the balls to be an ICE officer. He hasn’t got the balls to be a border patrol agent,” Homan continued, as the crowd cheered him on.
As the heckler was escorted out, Homan added, “This guy lives in his mother’s basement. The only thing that surprised me is [he] doesn’t have purple hair and a nose ring. Get out of here, you loser.”
While the crowd continued cheering Homan’s fiery speech, he assured that those protesting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would not intimidate agents because “we’re going to do the job that President Trump gave us to do.”
Homan said he has never seen “such hate against the men and women of ICE and in the Border Patrol,” and those protesting don’t have the courage to put on a badge and stand in their place.
While Homan said he was disappointed he didn’t see any protesters when he arrived at the summit, protesters had lined the streets outside Saturday afternoon, rejecting Trump’s agenda and his crackdown on illegal immigration.
The demonstrations on Saturday followed protests that deteriorated into riots in Los Angeles last month as rhetoric against ICE agents has reached a boiling point.
Federal immigration law enforcement officers have been targeted since Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill,” which includes legislation for robust immigration reform, into law last Friday. There have been at least two ambushes in Texas, and protesters clashed with federal officers at the Portland, Oregon, ICE center.
The brazen border czar had made it clear his speech might contain some profanity Saturday night, telling the crowd at the top of his remarks, “Sometimes, I’m harsh. But if I offend anybody here tonight, I don’t give a s—t.”
Homan also applauded Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, telling the crowd, “Under his leadership, we got the most secure border in the history of nation, and we did that in seven weeks. President Trump did in seven weeks what Joe Biden couldn’t or wouldn’t do in four years.”
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
