![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Sigrid-Gonzalez.png\")
Sigrid Gonzalez<\/p>\nBy Sigrid Gonzalez<\/p>\n
I am a Mexican American who worked for the Obama and Biden administrations, and I unexpectedly found some common ground with White House Border Czar Tom Homan during his recent speaking engagement at UTEP. As someone who identifies as a humanitarian committed to providing hospitality to migrants \u2014 and as a moderate who does not romanticize immigration but understands the complexities of our broken system \u2014 his remarks were important for me to hear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sigrid Gonzalez<\/p>\n
I previously worked with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson during the period when Homan served in Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership under President Obama. Homan himself noted during his speech that some of the most effective actions in responding to the early migration influx occurred during that administration, including family detention and removals, demonstrating that policies can have common ground in some aspects among different political views.<\/p>\n
The important factor in this is the way they are operationally executed.<\/p>\n
Homan delivered a fair speech. giving most of his time to answering students\u2019 questions in a setting where open dialogue should occur \u2014 especially for the students who will shape the future of U.S. values, including our approach to immigration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is why I was disappointed by the low student turnout inside the auditorium, despite students being given priority over the general public. Many chose instead to protest outside. While exercising their rights is important, I wish more of them had gone inside to engage directly with one of the current administration\u2019s architects of what many view, including myself, as cruel tactics against migrants.<\/p>\n
Frankly, I would have felt fine giving up my seat for them. Even better would have been if the general public attendees \u2014 who made up most of the audience \u2014 had been left standing outside instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had the students been present, their voices would have provided a true representation of the El Paso community: 82% Hispanic, one of the most bilingual cities in the country. Their presence alone would have communicated to Homan that in this community, the workforce \u2014 and the families behind it \u2014 look like the very individuals he is advocating agents \u201cbriefly detain\u201d for questioning based on probable cause.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Homan did make several false statements that generated the kind of sound bites that have fueled this administration\u2019s communication success. He claimed that the previous day saw 106 apprehensions with zero migrant releases \u2014 something the crowd loudly cheered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was false. Hospitality sites in both El Paso and Laredo received migrant releases daily last week, transferred directly by ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also stated that during the Biden administration, there were days when not a single agent was present on the border in the El Paso Sector. Again, false. Agents have always been on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Were they overwhelmed and frustrated by the volume of apprehensions? Absolutely. But they never abandoned the border. I know this firsthand \u2014 I worked alongside them during these influxes.<\/p>\n
Students raised concerns about use-of-force incidents involving agents. Homan responded by saying that the Office of Professional Responsibility should investigate such incidents and hold agents accountable. I applauded that answer. But this raises an important question: how can the public identify an agent who violates policy when agents\u2019 faces are covered? Even FitFam would have trouble solving that one.<\/p>\n
Homan also discussed the issue of \u201cgotaways\u201d \u2014 individuals detected crossing the border through technology but never physically apprehended. He cited 2 million during the Biden administration, which is indeed troubling. But he failed to mention that even today, with Border Patrol, the U.S. military, National Guard, DPS, and historically low apprehension numbers, \u201cgotaways\u201d still occur \u2014 particularly in the El Paso Sector. This demonstrates the complexity of the border. It cannot be fixed with a magic wand waved from Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Yes, we must continue speaking out against fear-driven and cruel actions that impact our communities. But we also need to be willing to enter spaces of dialogue \u2014 especially difficult ones \u2014 where we can listen, challenge, and occasionally even agree.<\/p>\n
Sigrid Gonzalez is a dedicated humanitarian from the El Paso-Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez area with 20 years of immigration experience.<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/elpasomatters.org\/2025\/12\/11\/opinion-tom-homan-utep-immigration-dialogue\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/elpasomatters.org”>El Paso Matters<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elpasomatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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