CBS News predictably cherry-picked footage to air from an interview with DHS General Counsel James Percival.
But despite the effort by “60 Minutes” to make the Trump administration look bad, the Department of Homeland Security official pulled back the curtain on what really transpired during his interview with contributor Gianna Toboni.
A conversation with @60Minutes on rapists and murderers, which they declined to include. https://t.co/XjUs7uDzj3
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) October 27, 2026
“You can kind of see why @60Minutes left stuff like this on the cutting room floor,” Percival wrote in one of the posts he shared on X.
Toboni’s questioning focused on the small percentage of illegal immigrant detainees who were accused or convicted of crimes such as sexual assault and murder. The fact that any number of criminals left to roam America’s cities while in the country illegally seemed insignificant to the reporter.
But Percival’s responses never made the final cut.
You can kind of see why @60Minutes left stuff like this on the cutting room floor. https://t.co/w5L4jEbdJl
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) October 27, 2026
“If you are in this country illegally, it is virtually impossible for you to live in this country and not commit additional legal violations—working without authorization, identity theft,” Percival said. “There’s a lot of illegality that goes on when you are breaking the law.”
He even noted how he “explained the relationship between compassion and justice” to Tobani’s interrogation.
I explained the relationship between compassion and justice to @60Minutes https://t.co/6ZlZrNNBN7
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) October 27, 2026
Social media users were grateful that Percival and DHS shared the “FULL, uncut interview.”
Savage.
—
Mike Davis
Just walked circles around her. Well done
— Joe (@replyguyjoe) October 27, 2026
Excellent interview, the DHS lawyer is right on target… The reporter tried to convince him to look the other way for “non-violent” illegal aliens. However, when past administrations looked the other way it resulted in allowing violent illegal aliens to rome freely in our…
— John Shulli (@Shulli) October 27, 2026
They just can’t hide their hostility. pic.twitter.com/nQQoJn3jyD
— Dave (@DilligafDave01) October 27, 2026
Does 60 minutes care about US citizens at all this entire interview was all about what happened to illegal aliens. All 60 Minutes seems to care about is illegal aliens. I absolutely didn’t see one time when this lady showed any kind of appreciation or sympathy or empathy for US…
— EVN-Dutch (@DutchEvn) October 27, 2026
