Border Czar Tom Homan vowed to “force-feed” ICE detainees engaging in a hunger strike on Tuesday, telling Fox News host Laura Ingraham that the measure would be used “if it gets bad enough.”

Homan joined The Ingraham Angle to discuss the recent confrontation between protestors, lawmakers, and ICE officers at a New Jersey detention center over the weekend. Delaney Hall, a privately owned facility in Newark, has made headlines in recent days due to allegedly horrific conditions, which led hundreds of detainees to go on a labor and hunger strike.

The reportedly brutal conditions, which DHS has denied, triggered protests outside the facility that turned violent on Monday, with ICE agents pepper spraying Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ). New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (D), who also attended the protest, claimed she was denied access to the facility with a history of allegations of inhuman treatment.

President Donald Trump’s border chief denied that any ICE detention centers had poor conditions, telling Ingraham that the agency’s standards exceeded the norm.

“Go to ice.gov and look at ICE’s detention standards. The highest detention standards in the industry, better than any state prison, county jail, or federal lockup,” he said. “Highest detention standards in the industry. Deaths in custody, they talk about people being mistreated, deaths in custody, and ICE is a fraction of any state prison or federal facility, a fraction.”

Homan dismissed the reported hunger strike, claiming that the move is not effective and will not force any policy changes.

“Look, I have done this since 1984. Hunger strikes never work. We are not going to change what we do because someone goes on a hunger strike. And matter of fact, if it gets bad enough and the prisoners feel like they’re putting themselves in extreme danger, medical danger, then we’ll force-feed them,” he said. “We will get a court order and force-feed them. Hunger strikes do not work. So they can put themselves in a position where they’re not eating, but it’s not going to cause them to be released. We are going to continue to arrest people. We’ll continue to detain people.”

Watch above via Fox News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!