Homan: “At Least 20 Million Illegal Aliens — 700,000 with Criminal Charges”; Mexico “Has Paid for the Wall”; Biden Put Migrants in Hotels to Avoid Judges

Border Czar Tom Homan delivered a wide-ranging press briefing in April 2025 covering the scale of illegal immigration, Mexico’s border contributions, and the Biden administration’s deliberate strategy of housing migrants in hotels. On numbers: “How many illegal aliens in the United States? At least 20 million. We’ve been speaking about 12 million for 20 years. We got 10.5 million that we know of at the border — how many don’t we know?” He revealed “700,000 illegal aliens with criminal charges walking the streets.” On Mexico paying for the wall, Homan turned the question back: “Putting 10,000 military on their border, we’re saving millions every day. We’ve more than made up for the cost of that wall.” On Biden hotels: “They did it on purpose — put them in hotels at $500 a night so their hearings could be 5, 7, 9 years out. This is about selling this country out for future political power."

"At Least 20 Million”

Homan challenged the conventional wisdom on the number of illegal aliens in the United States.

“How many illegal aliens in the United States?” Homan said. “At least 20 million.”

He explained the math: “We’ve been speaking about 12 million for 20 years. We know we got 10.5 million that we know of came to the border.”

He pointed to the unknown: “How many don’t we know? I talked about known gotaways at 2 million. How many unknown gotaways do we have?”

He provided a specific example: “Like between the Big Bend sector in Texas where there’s no technology — how many thousand people dig across there we wouldn’t know?”

He concluded: “So I would venture over 20 million.”

He then revealed the criminal dimension: “Last count we got last night — looked at about 700,000 illegal aliens with criminal charges walking the streets of this country. 700,000.”

He stated the priority: “That’s what we’re looking for now. That’s where we’re prioritizing them and national security threats.”

The “12 million for 20 years” observation was devastating in its simplicity. The estimate of 11-12 million illegal immigrants had been the standard figure used in policy discussions since the early 2000s. But during the Biden administration alone, over 10 million encounters had been recorded at the southern border, with millions released into the interior. The idea that the total hadn’t changed in two decades was mathematically absurd.

The 700,000 criminal aliens figure was the most alarming statistic in the briefing. These were not merely illegal immigrants — they were illegal immigrants with criminal charges who were free in American communities. Each one represented a potential danger to public safety that existed solely because of the failure to enforce immigration law.

”Mexico Has Paid for the Wall”

A reporter attempted the perennial gotcha: “He’s clear that Mexico is not going to pay for it.”

Homan rejected the premise: “Let’s address that. Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall. They have, in a roundabout way, have they not?”

He listed Mexico’s contributions: “Putting 10,000 military on their northern and southern border. Taking the action they did on Remain in Mexico — they didn’t have to do that. They’re doing it.”

He described the savings: “They have moved illegal immigration to record lows. We’re saving millions of dollars every day on detention, transportation, removal proceedings.”

He made the connection: “We’ve more than made up for the cost of that wall because of the actions of Mexico.”

He concluded: “So is Mexico helping build that wall? Yeah, because we’re saving so much money, millions of dollars a day, that we can afford to build that wall. So actually, yes, they’re helping to build the wall.”

The argument was economically sound. The wall’s construction cost was measured in billions. The savings from reduced illegal immigration — fewer detention beds needed, fewer removal proceedings, fewer transportation costs, fewer social services consumed — was also measured in billions. If Mexico’s border enforcement cooperation produced savings that exceeded the wall’s cost, then Mexico had effectively paid for the wall — not through a direct check but through reduced American expenditures.

The Hotel Strategy

Homan revealed what he characterized as a deliberate Biden administration scheme.

“The Biden administration released millions of people into the United States,” Homan said. “No one ever talks about it. I’ll talk about it.”

He posed the key question: “Why did they release people into the interior and put them in hotels rather than put them into an ICE bed?”

He provided the cost comparison: “Why not put them in an empty ICE bed at $127 a night rather than a hotel at $500 a night?”

He explained the strategy: “They did it on purpose. Because when you put them in an ICE detention bed, they get a hearing in 35 days. Court records show 9 out of 10 people who came for asylum get ordered removed. They’re gone.”

He revealed the alternative: “But if you release them and put them in a hotel room at $500 a night, their hearings can be 5, 7, 9 years. Pull out all appeals.”

He described the endgame: “And what are they hoping for then? That another Democrat administration is in power. They can grant amnesty to millions.”

He delivered the verdict: “This is about selling this country out for future political power. That’s what it was.”

The hotel revelation connected several dots that had puzzled observers. Why had the Biden administration spent vastly more per illegal immigrant ($500/night hotels) when cheaper options ($127/night ICE beds) existed? The answer, according to Homan, was that the expensive option kept immigrants out of the court system, where they would be ordered deported, and in the community, where they could eventually be amnestied.

”Why Are You So Emotional?”

Homan closed with the most personal passage of the briefing.

“People always want to say, why are you so emotional when you testify? Why are you so emotional on network?” he said. “If they wore my shoes for 40 years, they don’t understand why I’m emotional.”

He described what he had seen: “I’ve talked to little girls as young as nine years old who are raped multiple times by the cartel members. When you get to your knees and you talk to that little girl and everything innocent and pure has been ripped from her.”

He invoked Laken Riley: “When you listen to Laken Riley…”

The emotional passage humanized the policy debate in a way that statistics could not. Behind every immigration enforcement statistic was a human story — a nine-year-old girl raped by cartel members, a college student murdered by an illegal immigrant, a community terrorized by gang activity. Homan’s 40 years of law enforcement experience gave him a catalog of such stories that no critic could match.

The reference to Laken Riley — the nursing student murdered by an illegal immigrant in Georgia — connected the personal to the political. Riley’s death had become a symbol of the human cost of open borders, and her name had been invoked by Trump himself at the State of the Union address.

Key Takeaways

• Homan estimated “at least 20 million” illegal aliens in the U.S., noting the 12 million figure “hasn’t changed in 20 years” despite 10.5 million border encounters under Biden.
• He revealed 700,000 illegal aliens with criminal charges “walking the streets” — the current enforcement priority.
• On Mexico paying for the wall: “10,000 military on their border, saving millions daily. We’ve more than made up for the cost.”
• Biden hotel strategy exposed: $500/night hotels instead of $127 ICE beds to delay hearings 5-9 years — “selling this country out for future political power.”
• Homan on emotion: “I’ve talked to nine-year-old girls raped by cartel members. When you get on your knees and talk to that little girl…”