By Harrison Cramer, Alex Clearfield,
National Journal
Posted 06/11/2018 at 12:23 am EST
Like President Trump, Thomas Homan has a bone to pick with the media. At a Tuesday event hosted by the anti-immigration Center for Immigration Studies, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said "there's a lot of misinformation" about his agency.
Firstly, he denied that ICE does sweeps or raids. "We do targeted operations," Homan said. Those operations might also capture others not targeted, which could explain why deportations have spiked since Homan took over ICE in January.
"ICE doesn't separate any families," Homan said, adding that this is done at the border by Customs and Border Protection agents. When onlookers filmed ICE agents arresting a father in front of his children, "he put himself in that position," Homan said. "Who is at fault for that arrest? He is."
Finally, Homan pushed back against reports of widespread physical and sexual abuse at ICE detention facilities. "I've been to [Family Residential Center] facilities many times," Homan said. "We have medical on site, we have a psychologist on site, we have education on site." He said children get "juice" and "unlimited food" at the centers. "There's a lot of U.S. citizen children that don't get that type of care."
Moderators filtered journalists' questions and quickly ushered Homan to the door after the event ended.-Harrison Cramer Thomas Homan of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi waited six weeks to introduce her first bill, one she says will benefit her constituents-and the ducks many of them enjoy hunting.
The Migratory Bird Framework and Hunting Opportunities for Veterans Act would extend duck-, merganser-, and coot-hunting season to Jan. 31. Currently, duck-hunting season ends on the last Sunday in January.
Nick Wiley, chief conservation officer at Ducks Unlimited, explained that states can set their own closing dates within the existing framework as long as they end the season by the last Sunday in January.
"States would like the opportunity and flexibility to have those extra days," said Wiley, noting that Ducks Unlimited has not taken an official stance on the bill. He said hunters in the South would be the biggest beneficiaries of extra days, given that ducks tend to begin migrating from the north before the end of January.
In a statement, Hyde-Smith said the extra hunting days would help support state wildlife-conservation and habitat-preservation programs through taxes on extra ammunition sales. The bill would also designate the first weekend in February as a hunting weekend for youth, veterans, and active military.-Alex Clearfield 10039844015612764161004046269789003776 10040525968883425281004038222643650561
Copyright 2018 National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
更多内容