Pete Davidson Plays Tom Homan in SNL's ICE Meeting Cold Open After Minneapolis Shooting

One week after federal agents killed U.S. citizen Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Saturday Night Live's Jan. 31 cold open featured Pete Davidson as Border Patrol Czar Tom Homan. In the "ICE Meeting" sketch, Davidson's Homan issued instructions to confused, ready-to-rumble ICE recruits and referenced the dismissal of Greg Bovino, saying it "wasn't because he did a bad job, or publicly lied about the shooting of an American citizen, or even — uh-oh!

— dressed like a Nazi. It was that he was filmed doing these things. And the president no-likey that." The sketch addressed reports of poor vetting and training for new ICE agents; per NBC News, an AI tool error miscategorized applicants as having law enforcement experience and they were sent into the field without proper training.

Season 51 cast member James Austin Johnson skipped heavy Trump makeup that week and instead played one of the slow-witted recruits. Scenes included recruits asking whether they should be looking for "Epstein files," with Homan admitting "we actually just released those to distract from this," and later complaining, "I'm the 'separating families at the border' guy.

I'm the 'on film, taking a $50,000 bribe' guy, and y'all are making me look like the upstanding, reasonable adult in the room." The sketch noted growing public backlash and a Department of Justice investigation into the agents.

pete davidson, tom homan, ice meeting cold open, alex pretti shooting, ice vetting and training, ai tool error, department of justice investigation, greg bovino dismissal, james austin johnson, detain and deport illegal immigrants, snl season 51, don lemon arrest