Tom Homan pushed back on claims ICE targeted parents at a school bus stop in Danbury, Connecticut, as DHS called the allegation politically motivated.
Page A8From§Eachthe late evening edition — 30 August 2026
DHS denies torture and beatings in ICE detention; deportees recount the beatings, Homan disputes it.
As it ran on the front
The Department of Homeland Security has been unfairly characterized this week, and this reporter would like to set the record straight. There is no pattern -- none -- of torture or beatings in ICE detention facilities. These are, per the department's own statement, unsubstantiated claims circulated by activists and, in at least one case, a sitting United States Senator. Senator Chris Murphy said ICE is 'terrorizing little kids,' and Border Czar Tom Homan fired back immediately, correctly, because that kind of language is exactly the kind of language that gets thrown around loosely these -- well, actually, the kids in question were in federal custody, so 'terrorizing' might be -- no, that's not what I meant to say. The point is, DHS denies it. Categorically. In writing.
As for the deportees sent to Liberia, who gave detailed, on-the-record accounts of their treatment during expulsion -- those are, again, individual recollections. Memory is a funny thing under stress. People misremember dates, details, the number of times they were struck. That's just -- that's just how trauma works, it distorts things, it doesn't mean the beatings didn't -- I need to start that sentence over. It doesn't mean the beatings happened as described. The department has processes. Oversight. A hotline.…
…(cont) What critics fail to understand is that ICE operates under enormous pressure, processing enormous numbers of people, and isolated incidents, if they occur, are addressed swiftly and are not indicative of any broader -- any broader -- look, they're not indicative of anything, is the position, and DHS stands by it, and Homan stands by it, and this reporter stands by both of them, because standing by things is what the job requires, whether or not the things stood by are, strictly speaking, standing.
The deportees have given their accounts, on the record, with names attached. DHS has given its denial, on letterhead. Somewhere between the two sits the truth, and the department has made abundantly clear it does not intend to go looking for it there. That's not a scandal. That's just how the paperwork is filed.
“DHS says nobody's getting beaten in these facilities, and the people who just got deported are describing, in detail, getting beaten. One of those two sides has no reason to make it up, and it isn't the department with the press office.”
“DHS categorically denies any pattern of abuse -- these are isolated, unsubstantiated claims, and Homan's already knocked down Senator Murphy's 'terrorizing kids' line as pure theater. The Liberia accounts are troubling if true, obviously, but -- did I say if true, I mean, we take every claim seriously, which is different from believing it.”
The receipts
The UN torture rapporteur found direct-contact electric shock gloves "incompatible with the absolute prohibition of torture" - ICE plans to spend up to $20 million on them ABC10 San Diego / UN Special Rapporteur finding, August 2026
DHS denies reports of torture, beatings and medical neglect in ICE detentionThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Sunday denied a report in The New York Times about harsh treatment of migrants in immigration detention facilities. “Another day and another hoax about ICE detention from the @nytimes,” DHS…
Ten deportees said they experienced or witnessed what they called abusive or violent treatment by ICE. They spent months in detention, they said, before being sent to nations where they had no ties.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.