‘Cake for dessert’: Trump border czar tries food at ICE detention facility after complaints, says he ‘couldn’t finish it all’

Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, said he conducted an unannounced inspection of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility and ate lunch with detainees after hearing complaints about food quality.In an interview with Fox News, Homan said he wanted to see for himself whether the meals at the factory were really bad. Homan said he tried the same food as the detainees and quickly became full.He said: “I came in unexpectedly for lunch on Saturday because I was told the food was terrible. So I sat in the cafeteria with the detainees – with my security guard by my side, of course, to make sure there were no problems.” I was eating the same food, the same tray, because I was watching what they were eating while I was eating – the exact same thing. “Homan described the food served: “Had spaghetti and meat sauce, had green beans, had burnt beans, rolls with butter, juice drinks, I thought it was dessert cake, but I didn’t have dessert.”He added that the portion was more than enough for him: “But… I’m not a small guy. I couldn’t finish it.”Homan’s comments come as detainees, Democrats and advocacy groups have long complained about food conditions inside ICE detention centers. Over the years, detainees have claimed that meals were inadequate, spoiled or poorly prepared. Some claimed they experienced hunger, weight loss or illness while in detention. Recent complaints from facilities in several states include food shortages, inedible meals and allegations of food contamination. Some detainees also reported finding worms in food served in detention centres.Past inspections by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General have also uncovered problems at some facilities, including expired and moldy food, spoiled meat and unsafe food handling practices.During a tour of an ICE facility in California, Congressman Ro Khanna said detainees told him the food they were fed contained rocks and described poor living conditions and lack of access to adequate medical care. Khanna said he was “shocked” by the accounts he heard from detainees. Additionally, social media users claimed the interview was ICE propaganda and that the detained immigrants did not actually eat what Homan described.