Democrats belonging to the House Homeland Security Committee amplified an X post by David Bier, in which the Cato Institute’s Director of Immigration Studies excoriates ICE leader Tom Homan. Bier asserts that Homan is “admitting” that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers under his control are committing crimes against the U.S. Constitution.
In a Fox News segment Bier cites as evidence, Homan claims that ICE officers have the right to “walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them” without, as Homan puts it, “probable cause.”
Homan asserts that ICE is justified in questioning people “based on their location, their occupation, their physical appearance.” (Bier emphasized Homan’s “physical appearance” quote.)
THEY ARE ADMITTING IT. Homan is admitting to participating in a criminal conspiracy against the Constitution of the United States. https://t.co/QbMO5PgcVt
— David J. Bier (@David_J_Bier) July 11, 2025
In prefacing his assertion, Homan insists that ICE officers wanting to question and detain “don’t need probable cause,” a tacit admission that the ICE leader is aware of the potential Constitutional prohibition on the conduct he describes.
[NOTE: The Fourth Amendment requires that before stopping a suspect, the police must have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed by the suspect.]
When people say this, it shows 1) they’ve never read the Constitution or any of the founding documents, and 2) it shows that they have active contempt for the rights of citizens since the protections for “illegals” protect our rights https://t.co/Gafu8HK4F5
— David J. Bier (@David_J_Bier) July 11, 2025
[NOTE: The idea that law enforcement officers can stop and question suspects who have not obviously committed a crime derives in part from the Supreme Court case Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), which found such conduct legal if and when “a reasonably prudent officer is warranted in the circumstances of a given case in believing that his safety or that of others is endangered, he may make a reasonable search for weapons of the person believed by him to be armed and dangerous.”
The New York Police Department’s related and controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy was found to be in violation of the Fourth Amendment and discontinued in 2013.]
The Cato Institute — a libertarian promoter of free markets and personal freedom — is hardly a steadfastly anti-Trump organization, and not one whose ideas are often promoted by Democrats en bloc.
Cato has written in support of MAGA policy favorites like school choice and praised some aspects of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” — though it has come out against willy-nilly tariffs and executive branch power grabs that sideline states’ and congressional power.
The presidency was never meant to be a throne.
Robert A. Levy warns that President Trump’s attacks on the judiciary reveal not too much judicial power, but too little executive restraint.Our system was built on checks. We must use them. Read more: https://t.co/HLubuFFg9B pic.twitter.com/y6A1QkXVgZ
— Cato Institute (@CatoInstitute) July 9, 2025
The House Homeland Democrats comprise 14 congress members, including Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Ranking Member Julie Johnson (D-TX).