Ex-ICE Director Urges Nancy Pelosi to Take Wall Funding Deal: 'Love Your Country More Than You Hate This President'

On the 17th day of the partial government shutdown, former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Thomas Homan urged Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to take a federal funding deal that includes financing for the border wall.

During a segment on Fox News Monday, Homan encouraged Pelosi to consider a deal in order to keep Americans safe. "I would say, Nancy Pelosi, you need to love your country a little more than you hate this president," he said. "I mean, your number one responsibility is to protect Americans and secure our border. We have already shown how a wall, or barrier, can be effective."

Homan went on to argue that Democrats oppose the border wall primarily because they want to see President Donald Trump fail. "They don't want this president to have a win on the border, but what they don't understand if [when] the president wins on this issue, America wins," he continued. "America is more secure, less drugs get across, less guns get across, less illegal immigration."

The partial government shutdown began at midnight on December 21, after Trump declined to sign a stop-gap measure to keep the government running through New Year's Eve on the basis that it didn't include funding for his border wall—one of the key promises the president made during his campaign. Around a quarter of all U.S. government departments have been affected by the shutdown, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers being placed on temporary leave.

Although the White House claims that Senate Democrats caused the shutdown by declining to end the funding lapse, Democratic leaders have blamed the president for refusing to budge on funding for the wall.

Earlier today, Trump declared he would address the nation on Tuesday night about the "Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border." White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also revealed that the president will take a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday to "meet with those on the frontlines."

Pelosi announced over the weekend that Democrats will take immediate action to "reopen all government agencies" this week. "While President Trump threatens to keep the government shut down for 'years', Democrats are taking immediate further action to re-open the government, so that we can meet the needs of the American people, protect our borders and respect our workers," she said in a statement. "Next week, House Democrats will begin passing individual appropriations bills to re-open all government agencies, starting with the appropriations bill that covers the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. This action is necessary so that the American people can receive their tax refunds on schedule."

Throughout the shutdown, Pelosi has repeatedly asserted that Democrats will not cave and allow Trump funding for the wall. When asked on NBC's Today show whether she would give the president some of the $5 billion he has demanded, Pelosi replied: "No, nothing for the wall… How many more times can we say no?"