Topline
President-elect Donald Trump has appointed former ICE director Tom Homan as “border czar,” as the incoming president plans to launch what he calls the largest deportation operation in the country’s history, a continuation of hardline border policies Homan oversaw under the first Trump administration.
Thomas Homan during a Department of Homeland Security press conference on Dec. 5, 2017 in … [+]
Key Facts
Homan led Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the first 18 months of Trump’s administration after decades of experience in ICE and Border Patrol, and has since been an outspoken supporter of Trump’s policies and repeatedly defended deportation efforts.
Homan spoke repeatedly over the last few months about Trump’s plan to deport large numbers of undocumented immigrants during a second term, including the restart of workplace arrests as one strategy to carry out a “humane” but “necessary mass deportation operation.”
He said the plan will operate under a “worst first” policy, meaning criminals and national security threats will be targeted for deportation ahead of other immigrants.
Earlier this year, Homan predicted at the National Conservatism Conference that Trump’s return to office would also mean his return as an immigration official: “They ain’t seen shit yet. Wait until 2025.”
Homan is best-known for his role in a “zero tolerance” immigration policy under Trump that moved to immediately prosecute anyone found crossing the border illegally and saw parents detained while their children were taken and placed separately in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Thousands of children were taken from their parents under the controversial policy until Trump signed an executive order ending family separation, but Homan has continued to defend the practice and in 2018 said it was no different than an American child being separated from a parent who committed a crime within the nation’s borders (Homan told “60 Minutes” it’s “not true” to suggest he was one of the plan’s architects, but he signed onto it).
In 2023, Homan told guests of the Conservative Political Action Conference he was “sick and tired” of hearing about family separations: “You know, I’m still being sued over that, so come get me. I don’t give a shit, right. Bottom line is, we enforced the law.”
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News Peg
Trump on Sunday announced Homan would be “in charge” of the nation’s borders under the next administration. He called Homan a “stalwart on Border Control” on his Truth Social platform and said there is “nobody better at policing and controlling” the borders. Homan will not have to be confirmed through the Senate to start his new job. Trump has not yet said who will serve as his Secretary of Homeland Security.
Key Background
Homan, who has served as a Fox News contributor since retiring as ICE Director during Trump’s first term, has decades of experience working in immigration enforcement. He served in the former Immigration and Naturalization Service as a Border Patrol agent and special agent before he became assistant director for Enforcement at ICE Headquarters in Washington D.C. In 2013, Homan was promoted to executive associate director for enforcement and removal operations by President Barack Obama, who later awarded him a Presidential Rank Award for extraordinary accomplishment. Homan was appointed as acting ICE director in 2017 by Trump and retired from the role in June of 2018. During his time in the position, Homan said undocumented immigrants should “be afraid” under the Trump administration and that “all people are on the table” for deportation.
Crucial Quote
“Thomas Homan deports people. And he’s really good at it,” The Washington Post wrote in 2016.
What To Watch For
Last week, Homan told Fox Business the Trump administration would re-ignite an effort to sue sanctuary cities and revoke their federal funding. He has been a vocal opponent of sanctuary cities and states, where local law enforcement agents are instructed not to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. In 2018, Homan said politicians of those districts should be held “personally accountable” for crimes committed by people living in the U.S. illegally.
Contra
Homan has defended the harsh border policies he’s enforced and fought back against claims they’re cruel and costly. Last week, he said Trump’s deportation plan would cost less than the “billions of dollars we are spending now on housing, medical care, feed and caring for millions of illegal aliens (Biden’s) administration released into the United States.” In 2017, he said he believes so firmly in the nation’s immigration policies because he has seen the dangers those trying to illegally immigrate face if not deterred. Homan said he’s seen “dead immigrants on a trail that were left stranded” and organizations that “were holding people hostage, raping the women, molesting the children, killing people that couldn’t pay their smuggling fees, doubling their smuggling fees after they got to the United States.”
Surprising Fact
Private prison stocks Geo Group and CoeCivic rose Monday after Homan’s appointment was announced. Geo Group was up 6.7% as of 10 a.m. and CoreCivic was up 7.5%.