President Donald Trump’s border czar Thursday blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state of California over the death of a 68-year-old Bay Area man allegedly butchered by an illegal immigrant in front of his home.
Tom Homan said on “Fox & Friends” that the elderly Martinez man’s suspected murder wouldn’t have happened if not for politics.
“It’s just politics, a sanctuary jurisdiction. Over a decade, I can think of the hundreds of cases like this that happened. It’s just one case after another after another,” Homan said of California’s “sanctuary” designation.
“This person’s dead because Governor Newsom and the state of California puts politics — hatred of President Trump — over public safety,” Homan added.
The alleged killer, illegal Venezuelan immigrant Marcos Iriarte-Valdez, 36, who also holds Spanish citizenship, is accused of fatally stabbing retiree Todd Stewart on his front lawn last week, with surveillance footage capturing the horrifying attack.
Homan went off on the fact that Iriarte-Valdez had been released from jail the day before the attack. He had been cut loose by a Newsom-appointed judge after violating the terms of his home detention related to a residential burglary case.
The border czar said he was upset over how the governor’s office portrayed the situation as a failure by the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We did our job. We located this person in their facility. We did an investigation, found out he is an illegal in the United States, has a criminal history, he is deportable, so we issued a detainer, asking them to notify us before they release him,” Homan said.
“There’s nothing against a sanctuary law in California for a deputy to just pick the phone up and just say that, ‘Hey, this guy is being released in a hour,’” he added. “You don’t have to hold him one minute longer than you would normally hold him.”
The politics of violating the state’s sanctuary laws have led to a culture of California not wanting to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, Homan implied.
In a statement to The California Post, the governor’s office insisted the blame still falls on the Trump administration.
“California takes public safety seriously, and nothing in California law prevents federal authorities from enforcing federal immigration law,” a spokesperson said. “The federal government has billions of dollars and substantial resources to enforce federal law — they should do their job instead of blaming California for ICE’s enforcement failures.”
Newsom’s office also added that Iriarte-Valdez should face justice for the alleged crime.
The suspect, who has been in the US since 2007, is currently being held on $1.1 million bail.
Video of the attack shows Iriarte-Valdez pulling up on a residential street in a Cadillac SUV wearing dark jeans, a gray shirt and a protective vest before allegedly launching the vicious knife attack.
The two can be seen tussling on a sidewalk between two parked cars before Stewart is knocked to the ground. Iriarte-Valdez allegedly continues stabbing him even after he falls, as Stewart screams in agony.
Police said there was no known connection between the two.
The suspect’s criminal record includes an October 2025 arrest in Contra Costa County for a DUI and a hit-and-run causing property damage, according to county booking records.
Apart from these incidents and his current murder charge, Iriarte-Valdez’s extensive rap sheet includes three counts of burglary, receiving known stolen property, trespassing, entering a noncommercial dwelling, loitering, and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.
He also has a prior conviction for violating a court-ordered protective order.
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