Tempers flared on national television as Ana Navarro, co-host of “The View,” found herself in a fiery exchange over the criminal status of unauthorized migrants detained by ICE.
Fox News reported that the clash, which unfolded on “CNN NewsNight” during a panel discussion with former Texas Republican Party finance chair Hal Lambert, centered on Navarro’s disputed claim that most detainees lack criminal records, despite data suggesting otherwise.
On Tuesday night, the debate turned heated as Navarro shouted down Lambert, pushing back against the narrative that many detained by ICE are dangerous offenders.
Navarro insisted, “The majority of the people who have been grabbed and detained, deported, disappeared, are people without criminal records,” attempting to frame the issue as a misunderstanding of policy impacts.
Yet, this assertion flies in the face of hard numbers, as data from Border Czar Tom Homan paints a starkly different picture, one that undercuts the notion of widespread innocence among detainees.
Lambert tried to counter, but Navarro doubled down, dismissing opposing views as mere fabrications, a classic move to shut down discourse when the facts don’t align with the narrative.
Just days before this televised spat, on September 24, a shooting incident at an ICE office in Dallas underscored the volatile tensions surrounding the agency’s operations.
The very next day, Homan appeared on Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus,” shedding light on the reality of ICE arrests with a detailed breakdown of the numbers.
Homan revealed, “Every morning, when I’m on my way to the White House, I look at 22 pages of data that shows exactly what ICE has done the last 24 hours. Here’s what the data says: 70%, right about 70% of everybody ICE arrests is a criminals” (Tom Homan, “The Faulkner Focus”).
Beyond the studio drama, real-world unrest at ICE facilities in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, has erupted into multiple riots, driven by fierce opposition to the agency’s efforts to detain unauthorized migrants.
These disturbances reflect a deep divide over immigration enforcement, with some viewing ICE actions as essential for safety, while others see them as heavy-handed overreach.
Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures show millions of unauthorized migrants were encountered at the border during the Biden administration, with many released into the country, fueling debates over policy effectiveness.
Homan’s data doesn’t just stop at the 70% criminal statistic; he also clarified that the remaining 30% of arrests include national security risks, individuals with final removal orders after due process, and incidental detentions during community operations.
This nuanced breakdown suggests that ICE isn’t simply rounding up random folks, but targeting those who pose legitimate concerns or have exhausted legal avenues—a point often lost in emotional arguments like Navarro’s.
While empathy for individual stories is understandable, ignoring the majority criminal element among detainees risks undermining the rule of law, a balance that must be struck with clear-eyed pragmatism over feel-good rhetoric.
