Border czar Tom Homan called out a CBS interviewer for a loaded question on ICE custody deaths after the reporter cited 57 fatalities but could not produce Biden-era figures.

In a Friday exchange, CBS News immigration correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez pressed Homan on deaths of illegal immigrants held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing agency figures and warning that 2026 could set a record. Homan refused to accept the framing and kept asking for the missing comparison.

The New York Post reported the clash as Homan accused the journalist of stacking the deck against the Trump administration while ignoring the surge in people now held in custody.

Montoya-Galvez opened with official ICE data and a fresh death notice.

"We looked at official ICE data, sir, and found that 57 people have died in the agency’s custody so far under this administration. In fact, somebody was just reported to have died in ICE custody today by the agency. 2026 could set a new record high in the number of detainees dying. What is being done to prevent that? And I know one partial explanation is that more people are being detained and, so tragically, more people are dying. But that can’t be the only explanation, can it be?"

Homan answered with a question of his own.

"How many people died during the Biden administration?"

He asked again. And again. Montoya-Galvez first offered “a significant number,” then admitted he did not have the data on hand. Homan did not let it pass.

"Of course you don’t. Again, it’s another loaded question against the Trump administration."

That exchange captured the core dispute: higher absolute deaths after a sharp rise in enforcement, without the baseline numbers that would put the claim in context.

Homan cites doubled custody and medical care, not neglect

Homan said the jump in deaths tracks the jump in the detained population. He put the recent custody figure near 74,000 and said the population has doubled. More people in custody, he argued, means more medical cases, especially among people arriving from third-world nations who often see ICE doctors first.

Fox News detailed the same back-and-forth, underscoring Homan’s point that ICE detention standards sit higher than those in state or federal prisons and that deaths in custody rank among the lowest when measured that way.

He described the agency’s medical role in plain terms.

"Some of the first doctors they see are our doctors. And matter of fact, no one ever talks about how many lives that ICE saves in detention when they found a serious medical issue that the alien didn’t even know about and we treat. When I was ICE director, I think we spent almost a billion dollars on medical care."

Homan called every death unfortunate and sad. He said ICE does everything it can to deliver the best medical care available and maintains the highest detention standards in the industry. The last time he reviewed comparative data, he said, ICE ranked lowest against state prisons and the Bureau of Prisons.

That defense lands against a backdrop of stepped-up interior enforcement, including ICE-led operations that have produced hundreds of arrests of people tied to serious crimes. Higher volume brings higher absolute risk; it does not prove lower standards.

Former Trump official calls the interview gotcha television

Theo Wold, who served as acting assistant attorney general and deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy in Trump’s first term, told Fox News Digital the exchange was classic modern media.

"This is what passes for journalism in modern America, a reporter comes prepared with gotcha questions but no backup data. The purpose isn’t to inform the public (which ought to be the goal of journalism), it’s to manufacture ideological sound bites for the nightly news."

Wold added that no administration can avoid all in-custody deaths. He said the Trump administration has more than doubled Biden-era enforcement, so more people are detained and more deaths occur, most often through no fault of ICE officers.

The reporter’s own words left the comparison unfinished. He floated a potential 2026 record, conceded more detention explains part of the rise, then insisted that could not be the only explanation, while holding no Biden numbers to test the claim.

Readers following border enforcement have seen the same pattern elsewhere, from nationwide ICE preparations after court action on temporary protected status to local cases that show what happens when releases replace detention.

Standards, cameras, and the cost of open borders

Homan has also pushed operational accountability inside ICE. He recently announced body cameras for ICE officers and pledged a rollout as soon as possible, another signal that the agency is expanding capacity and oversight at the same time.

The custody math is straightforward. Double the population and keep people who often arrive with untreated conditions, and absolute deaths will rise even if the rate stays low. Homan’s repeated question exposed the missing half of the ledger: how many died under the prior administration when enforcement was lighter and releases more common.

Montoya-Galvez never supplied that figure. He said he did not have the data. Homan treated that gap as the tell.

Crime stories tied to border releases keep the stakes concrete for ordinary communities. Cases such as a Sacramento woman stalked and killed by an illegal immigrant freed at the border remind taxpayers why detention capacity and medical screening matter.

Homan’s closing stance stayed consistent: deaths are tragic, ICE provides extensive care, standards exceed those of other lockups, and volume, not neglect, drives the higher count. He refused to let a one-sided statistic stand as proof of failure.

When a network reporter arrives with a death tally and no baseline, the public gets a sound bite instead of a full ledger. Enforcement that actually detains people will always face harder numbers than catch-and-release. Accountability starts with the full record, not the half that fits the script.